Brooklyn

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  From Brooklyn, fighting slavery in Africa

  27 Dec 2013 by journalism / No Comments

  By FRITZMYRE CHERUBIN

  The tall African intellectual walked around the Brooklyn radio studio with his chest upright and his head held high as if he’d just won the “Most Confident of the Year” award.

  Dressed in his bright white shirt, neatly pressed, finished with a black bow tie, Cheikh Baila, 52, has a face full of scars that remind him of his traumatic past.

  Baila, who was tortured for speaking out against a tyrannical government in Mauritania, is now the talk host and president of the Brooklyn-based Pulaar Speaking Association’s Radio PSA, located at 1169 Fulton St. PSA is a radio show that promotes African cultures in general and the Fulani culture in particular, and develops educational projects to benefit its members. Radio PSA provides programming that entertains and educates the African community, while at the same time seeking to become a part of the larger American culture.

  As different hosts are open to discussing any political subject occurring in Africa, Baila chooses to talk about an issue that hits close to home: the oppression faced by the citizens of Mauritania,the country in which Baila was born.

  Every night as Baila prepares the rundown for the show, he reminisces about the time he was held in captivity, and it explains why he is a part of the organization in the first place.

  During the harsh rule of President Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya of Mauritania, a country in West Africa, many were afraid to question his political stances.

  In 1996, Baila decided to become a political activist opposed to the segregation, discrimination, and racism under the Taya rule. Slavery has persisted in Mauritania, which has a mixed Arab and black population, and human rights activists say many blacks are enslaved.

  Baila could not continue to witness what was going on before his very eyes, so he decided to develop concerts  in which these different ethnic groups would unite. These ethnic groups consisted of the Fulani people, Wolof, Soninke, Bambara, Hratine, and the white Arabs. They would come with songs and Baila would be the emcee, presenting the different groups on stage. It was not long before the Mauritanian government came looking for Baila.

  He says that while the African peoples were finally coming together under one roof, undercover cops  disguised as audience members would report the concert activities back to Taya. Baila said he was not aware of this until two detectives came knocking at his door late at night, as his pregnant wife, Niouma Kante Baila, stood in the background with a face full of panic. He and his wife were helpless as the two men blindfolded Baila and threw him into the backseat of a van.

  For three whole days, a group of men kept Baila him in a dark room with little food and tortured  him until he gave answers, he said. One common technique they used was the “jaguar” torture method; he was tied upside down from the ceiling until the blood rushed to his head, leaving him close to unconscious. They then beat him to the ground, which eventually left long-lasting scars on his face.

  Baila said he would not succumb to the pressure. He said he simply told them the truth, which was that he was not a member of any political party and was just trying to convey a message through musical outlets.

  As if to say it was obvious, Baila raised his brows and smirked. The message, he said, was to “invite people to be one people and to love each other.”

  Baila was let off the hook that night. But many Mauritanians who were opposed to the government did not live to tell their story.

  After that night, Baila says, “My mission wasn’t complete.” He continued to organize concerts, but as a disguised audience member. His success was short-lived as the government was notified once again.

  It was then that Baila had to flee Africa for good, with the help of a former classmate.

  After making a successful escape, he landed in Brooklyn, and would not see his family for the next five years.

  “Of course I missed my family, especially my wife, but I knew this was something I had to do,” Baila says.

  Although Baila was devastated at being far from his family, he felt that it was worth the sacrifice because it was his calling, he said, adding that if he had just walked away, he wouldn’t have been able to live with that decision.

  When asked if he has any regrets, Baila replied, “It’s the best choice I ever made. Somebody had to do it.”

  Although Baila now voices his opinions about the government on the Pulaar Speaking Association radio show, 8,000 miles away from Africa, his wife says, “I still fear for his life.”

  Baila says that he understands his wife’s concerns, but feels he is considerably safer here in America.

  Although Taya was overthrown in 2005, the modern day government does little to engage in the matter of slavery, says Baila.

  For this reason, Baila continues to address the problem on the Pulaar Speaking Association.

  “People need to stand together to fight against the practice of slavery,” he said. “And by people, I mean everyone!”

  Photo: Cheikh Baila.

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  Boxing Match Billed as ‘Battle of Brooklyn’

  04 Dec 2013 by journalism / No Comments

  By ALEX ELLEFSON

  Former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi said on Tuesday that it was important for him to win his upcoming match against fellow Brooklyn native Zab Judah to earn bragging rights as king of the borough.

  “It’s a big deal,” said Malignaggi. “Usually, when a guy leaves town after a fight, you don’t have to see him again around your home.”

  On Saturday, The two former junior welterweight and welterweight champions will face each other for the first time in the Barclays Center in a fight that has been promoted as the Battle of Brooklyn.

  “This is not a world championship fight but it still has the same championship vibe,” said Malignaggi, who lost his welterweight title at Barclays last June against Adrien Broner. “It’s going to be a divided crowd. Zab will have his supporters and I have my supporters.”

  Both Malignaggi (32-5, 7 knockouts) and Judah (42-8, 29 knockouts) are coming off tough losses in their hometown. Judah lost a bloody battle against then-junior welterweight titleholder Danny Garcia at the Barclays Center in April. Malignaggi lost to Broner in a split decision.

  “In this sport, one or two losses can quickly demote you to a second or third level. Me and Zab are both coming off competitive losses,” said Maglinaggi. “At the end of the day, we both want to win real bad.”

  Besides earning hometown bragging rights, the winner will likely get a chance to fight for the welterweight title.

  Malignaggi and Judah made headlines for trash talking during the weeks before their last fights, but both men have expressed mutual respect for each other in the lead up to Saturday’s fight. However, Malignaggi said that the competition would be fierce inside the ring and he expected a battle.

  “I trained for the best Zab Judah and I expect a tough fight,” he said. “Any time the bell rings, you put your feelings aside even if you have respect for each other.”

  Malignaggi made his comments during a showcase training session at legendary Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, which was organized by the fight’s promoter, Golden Boy Productions.

  For Malignaggi, the event at Gleason’s was a bit of a homecoming.

  “I started training at Gleason’s. It has a special place in my heart,” he said. “I wouldn’t be the fighter I am without Gleason’s.”

  Interim junior middleweight titlist Erislandy Lara (18-1-2, 12 knockouts) was also present at Gleason’s for the showcase. Lara will fight former champion Austin Trout (26-1, 14 knockouts) in the co-feature of Saturday’s event at the arena.

  Lara and Trout already exchanged verbal jabs at a press conference last month, where Trout said his opponent “lacks in heart.”

  At Tuesday’s showcase in Gleason’s, Lara said that he will prove that he is the better fighter in the ring and added that he expects to win the fight by knockout.

  “I will prove I am the best 154 lb fighter in the world,” said Lara. “This will be my fifth straight fight against a top 10 fighter. [Trout] couldn’t beat the second best fighter, how is he going to beat the first?”

  Photo by Alex Ellefson of Paulie Malignaggi.

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  SUNY plan causes turmoil for LICH and its workers

  05 Nov 2013 by journalism / No Comments

  By KIRAN SURY

  1986 was an important year. Microsoft launched its IPO, the Iran-contra affair was revealed, and Oprah started her famous talk show. It was also the year that Cindy Pietromonico started working at Long Island College Hospital, or LICH. Now, 27 years later and with five children to take care of, she can only work there part-time.

  SUNY Downstate’s planned shutdown of the Brooklyn hospital has caused turmoil for the people who keep it running. With help from the State Supreme Court and the New York State Nurses Association, hospital employees are still fighting to keep the hospital afloat – possibly with a new owner.

  Thanks to favorable court rulings, the hospital is still open, but after so many months of uncertainty, workers like Pietromonico are faced with the prospect of saying goodbye to their job for the past two decades and finding a new one. The loss of workers has only made it harder for the hospital to function properly as experienced units are broken up and distributed to cover the workload. The hospital also cut hours for some of its workers during the shutdown process, throwing their schedules into disarray.

  Pietromonico has started working full-time during the week at the Brooklyn campus of the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System and part-time at Long Island College Hospital on weekends. “Starting over as a new nurse after being a nurse for over 30 years is a little bit unnerving to say the least,” she said. But if the hospital closes, “Plan B is I get another job and my life goes on.”

  The hospital workers found hope in a ruling State Supreme Court Justice Carolyn Demarest issued in August. Stepping away from her previous decision, the judge determined that Downstate had not fulfilled its responsibility to keep the hospital open and vacated her order giving LICH property to Downstate. Then on Sept. 12, Justice Johnny Lee Baynes found a state regulation involved in the hospital’s closure to be unconstitutional On Oct. 15 he followed up and ordered Downstate to stop following its plan to close the hospital.

  Downstate’s appeal of Baynes’ rulings was rejected. After Continuum Health Partners (LICH’s previous partner) refused to return, the nursing association is looking for another partner to keep the hospital open.

  In the meantime, employees show up for work every day not knowing if it will be their last on the job. Even as they struggle to save the hospital, it means coming up with a backup plan.

  Efren Villanueva, a nurse in the CCU for 28 years, is now part of a floater unit at the hospital and works wherever he is needed. He said that when the hospital temporarily shut down over the summer and he was separated from colleagues he had worked with for years, “it felt like we were homeless.”

  “You have your own turf, and all of a sudden the unit was closed,” he said. “You have no identity, you go to wherever they want.”

  Despite his current situation, Villanueva will not leave the hospital voluntarily. He said he had accepted that it was going to close when the emergency units were closed, but now has more hope for the hospital. “I don’t know if I’m still in denial,” he said. “At this point, I’m staying up until the end. And the day they say it’s closed, that’s when I go find another employment.”

  Woodrow Llewellyn, a nurse in the ICU since 1992, has a more specific idea in mind: travel nursing, or as he jokingly refers to it, “a cheap vacation.”

  “You can be in Hawaii today, California tomorrow, anywhere in the United states that they have a contract with,” he said. “It’s a new adventure. Something different.”

  While many LICH employees remain, some could not afford to stay when their hours were reduced.

  Lisma Martir, a nurse in the CCU for 24 years, left the hospital in September to work at the Mount Sinai Transplant Institute. As a single mother of two children, she said she felt anxious when she heard about the planned closure in January. “I needed a sense of something more stable because I have nobody else to rely on, I’m the head of the family,” she said. After staying on for nine months, “This job opportunity unexpectedly came up and I had to decide between the future and the present. And I concluded that it’s time to go.”

  Dr. Louis Gerolemou, a pulmonary and critical care specialist, also recently left the hospital along with his wife, a psychiatrist. He said he “freaked out” when SUNY decided to close the hospital because as full-time salaried workers, “our whole family income was dependent on LICH.” After his wife found a position at Franklin Hospital in Valley Stream in May, he felt more secure. But when the ambulance service was cut off, the in-patient services also withered away. “It became blatantly obvious at that point that I needed to move on,” he said.

  Now at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in Fort Greene, Gerolemou said that it would be very difficult to go back to even if LICH stayed open for good. “It’s a shame. From the beginning if there was the political and judicial support it has gotten recently, maybe things would have been a little bit different,” he said. “But it seems like it kind of spiraled so far out of control that it’s difficult to recover from the point that it’s at now.”

  The patients, he said, would be affected the most. “We’ve seen a lot of the patients that were going to LICH coming over to Brooklyn Hospital and they’ve really been displaced.”

  LICH’s financial problems were known as early as 2011, when a state report recommended that hospitals be closed in favor of outpatient clinics, and that it merge with SUNY Downstate. Based on this report, Justice Demarest approved the transfer of hospital property to SUNY Downstate with the understanding that Downstate would continue operations.

  The situation seemed stable until this January, when the SUNY Board of Trustees voted to close the hospital. According to the local nurses association secretary Julie Semente, the hospital staff was unaware of the decision. “Nobody knew that SUNY was making any of these plans. We found out with the whole rest of the city,” she said, referring to an article that broke the story.

  Joan Rowley, membership chairperson for the nurses’ executive council and a LICH nurse for 37 years, said that the nurses understood the health care system and that a merger was needed to keep the hospital running. “We’re not naïve,” she said. But she said SUNY broke its agreement and characterized the shutdown as “pure greed” for the hospital’s assets, which are valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

  Concha Mendoza, a board member of advocacy group Concerned Physicians of LICH, said that the problems were exacerbated by the lack of coordination between the University Hospital of Brooklyn at Downstate and Long Island College Hospital. Downstate needed impact studies of how the hospital closure would affect the community, she said, before anything else happened.

  SUNY proceeded to shut down the hospital anyway, closing special units, cutting staff hours and sending ambulances to other hospitals. SUNY said the hospital was losing money, and it needed to contain costs. Protesters countered that SUNY wanted to shut down the hospital as quickly as possible so it could sell the property and reap the profit.

  Villanueva said he felt disrespected. “It’s not a good feeling coming to work and you see your unit closed and padlocked. It’s a show of disrespect,” he said. “With all the years of service at that hospital, and this is what you get? There’s no loyalty in this place.”

  Llewellyn called the situation “ridiculous.”

  “It reminds me of the cartoon where the guy walks in and he sees the room full of money, and his eyes turn into dollar signs. He doesn’t see anything else happening around him, just that pile of money,” he said.

  Hospital employees responded by staging events to gain community support. Pietromonico said she was the first person to be arrested this July for disorderly conduct at a protest outside the SUNY Downstate College of Optometry. Papers preferred to report on the arrests of more prominent figures, such as Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio. But for the people who work at LICH every day, the multiple court hearings and protests were no publicity stunt.

  If LICH closes, Rowley said that she will pursue her passion for mental health education, focusing on teaching parents how to cope with children who have mental health issues. She will also increase her involvement with the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

  After 30 years at the hospital, Semente said she would use the opportunity to enter another profession, perhaps as a legal nurse consultant. She said she does not want to work at another hospital. “Nothing could compare to what we have at LICH.”

  Photo: Julie Semente, left, and Joan Rowley are fighting to save LICH from closing. (Kiran Sury)

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• On streets of Crown Heights, standing up to violence

  24 Oct 2013 by journalism / No Comments

  By MELISSA WALKER

  Allen James looked out over a sparse crowd of 25 people gathered at the corner of St. Marks and Schenectady avenues in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

  “We are standing in a neighborhood where shootings happen randomly and frequently,” said James, program manager for the community-based organization Save Our Streets. A small group of local residents, clergy and politicians gathered to protest the death that all too often scars Brooklyn’s streets.

  This time, the rally was called to remember Emmanuel Capers, who was found in his car Oct. 6. on St. Marks Avenue. Shot in broad daylight, he suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and was later pronounced dead at Interfaith Medical Center.

  At a time when murders in New York City are at a record low, it can be easy to forget that violent crime still is rampant in some neighborhoods. S.O.S remembers. The 77th Precinct, where it is based, has recorded 12 murders this year due to gun violence, 37 reported shooting victims and 31 incidents of gunfire.

  Last year this area saw nine murders, while the shooting victims remained the same and shooting incidents were down by 2.

  S.O.S covers only a portion of the area.  According to a study by the Center for Court Innovation, shootings were down in the catchment by 20 percent  since the organization was founded in 2010. The district in which the group  works extends from Eastern Parkway to Atlantic Avenue, Kingston Street to Utica Avenue. Last year at this time there were 17 shootings, both fatal and non-fatal. This year the numbers were down by three. In 2010 when S.O.S. began its work there were 24 for the same time period.

  “If we don’t raise our voices it will continue, if we don’t stand together and express our lack of acceptance it will continue,” James lamented as he stood with his bullhorn.  Save Our Streets holds a “shooting response” every time there is a shooting in its area.

  This small area keeps the members of S.O.S. busy.

  The goal of S.O.S. is to work from the ground up, attempting to stop escalating violence. In a neighborhood that is wary and at times fearful of cooperation with police investigations, this is a needed service. The group works with youth who are most at risk and helps them until they cycle out of the cycle of violence — often seeing them off to college, trade schools or employment.

  While speaking to the small gathering at the “shooting response,” James at one point turned the megaphone toward the street where Capers was gunned down, and made an impassioned plea. “We ask you to make a silent demonstration by coming out and standing with us, we know that there is upset and fear,” he said.  “We know there is loss and that there is a desire for peace.”

  James spoke to a street that was silent and empty; nobody joined the rally. Capers was shot in his vehicle approximately seven times with reports of nine shell casings found. Fear is what S.O.S. deals with and is what it has to fight through.

  The community outreach workers are a big part of this grassroots effort. These men walk the streets of Crown Heights speaking to neighbors, drug dealers and gang members. This is important because the gang members and drug culture make it difficult for law enforcement officers, who are often from other neighborhoods and of a different race. The outreach workers are from the community and are often former gang members or felons.

  Derick Scott is one of these workers. He is a familiar face on the streets and works tirelessly to help heal his neighborhood. As he took the megaphone to address the tragedy on St. Marks Avenue, those who gathered could sense his passion. He spoke much like a coach trying to rally a team that has fallen behind. After he called out, “What time is it?” the crowd replied, “It’s time to take the lead.”

  What was apparent at this rally and others like it is the lack of participation of the youth who are at risk of becoming victims or perpetrators. On this day there were three young teenage girls, part of the group’s youth outreach. S.O.S. provides education, activities and attempt to intercept the youth before the streets claim them.

  Those in attendance were elderly, clergy or city government officials testament to the support that S.O.S. has. But this  a bigger problem for community policing: getting those who are targeted by violence involved.

  Laurie Cumbo, the Democratic nominee for City Council, spoke about the stress  of daily violence. “When a life is lost in our community it is our role and responsibility to acknowledge that our community is missing an energy and a soul that had the potential to do so very much,” she said.

  This is the heart of Save Our Streets: to not just save the streets but to save those who navigate them. “I admire you for even being here, and for not just looking at is as another day in the ’hood,” Cumbo said as she promised her constituents that this is something she will continue to support.

  Five days later and two blocks away on St. John’s Place the crisp fall air was once again pierced by bullets that struck a body.  This young man survived. Once again Save Our Streets was there to bring to light what happened – and to renew the plea to end the violence.

  Video by Melissa Walker

   

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• 

  `Lucky 13th’ Coney Island Film Festival Held

  29 Sep 2013 by journalism / No Comments

  By KATIE MILANI

  The “lucky 13th” annual Coney Island Film Festival got under way last weekend in a museum that was opening its doors to the public for the first time since Hurricane Sandy.

  Dick D. Zigun, founder and artistic director of the collective that produces Coney Island events like the Mermaid Parade, told a Friday night audience of about 30 people that the Coney Island Museum’s reopening was part of the slow  and tedious recovery from the devastating hurricane, a process, he said, that is still being tackled.

  Zigun introduced “More Than The Rainbow,” Dan Wechsler’s documentary chronicling the life and times of a New York City street photographer.

  Wechsler, a bookstore owner on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, introduced his subject, Matt Weber, and spoke a few quick words about the hard work that went into making his first film.

  “You’ll see certain historical moments throughout this that will show you just how long it takes to make a documentary film,” Wechsler said just before the opening credits started to appear.  “This is a labor of love.”

  Throughout the hour and 23-minute film, stunning photographs of an older New York City light up the screen. The images, paired with jazz from Thelonious Monk, create a feeling of nostalgia. Going back to the gritty 1980s New York, More Than The Rainbow tells Weber’s story as a street photographer and former New York City taxi driver, explaining the passion that goes into his art.

  Shot from behind the wheel of his Dodge Aspen, Weber’s older photographs are mostly in black and white film. Inspired by New York’s diverse neighborhoods and the people who inhabit them, Weber realized the only way to capture the moments he witnessed in everyday life, was with a camera.

  Photographs range from street fights in Harlem to scantily clad sunbathers in Coney Island. He focuses on the people of New York, whether they’re homeless sleeping on a bench, or lovers embracing in front of the Dakota, Weber allows for the actions of other people to speak for him.

  A native New Yorker, Weber’s photographs capture a real New York. Pictures that illustrate different lifestyles and different time periods paint a broad picture of the city.

  The work can evoke an emotional response.  The raw, impromptu photographs Weber shoots can make even  mundane scenes compelling.  Shots of people riding the subway;  sleeping; kissing, or just staring into space are Weber’s most popular subjects.

  When asked what his most prized picture was, the photographer said it was not the memorable photo he took during the attack on The World Trade Center, but a picture he took in a sleazier, older Times Square.

  In the picture, a sailor stares hesitantly into a peep show right across the street from where Weber’s cab station lay. The man was scared of an X-rated movie, Weber said.

  A kick-off party followed at The Freak Bar and Sideshows by the Seashore featuring burlesque and sideshow performances.

  The festival ran through Sunday night, bringing in hundreds of people to see 88 films.

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  Women Protest Street Harassment

  13 Aug 2013 by journalism / No Comments

  By REBECA IBARRA

  Twenty-year-old Tahira Huff was walking to her Bedford-Stuyvesant home late one night when a man tried to chat her up. “What up mamma?” the stranger yelled from across the street. “You lookin’ fine.”

  Having grown accustomed to routine come-ons from random men on the street, Huff ignored the fellow’s remarks and, eyes fixed on the pavement, continued her journey home.

  Then things became unpleasant.

  “What, you don’t wanna talk to me, bitch?” the stranger yelled, and proceeded to follow her home, firing off lewd comments and haranguing her to respond.

  Huff quickened her pace and reached for her phone.

  “I felt scared,” Huff said. “I had to call my dad and get him to meet me at the door. Then the man disappeared.”

  For many women, creepy come-ons have become part of the day-to-day.

  “It’s crazy,” Huff said. “The amount of disrespect a woman can feel walking down the street.”

  This common occurrence is known as street harassment. According to StopStreetHarassment.org, it ranges from leers, whistles, kissing noises, to more insulting and threatening behavior like vulgar gestures, sexually charged comments, flashing, and stalking, to illegal actions like public masturbation, sexual touching and assault.

  Community organizers Anthonine Pierre and Marly Pierre-Louis are up in arms and set on tackling this phenomenon.

  “I think sometimes the issue of street harassment gets reduced to catcalling,” said Pierre, head of the Brooklyn Movement Center, a Bed-Stuy community-organizing group. “But it is so much broader than someone yelling, ‘Hey baby’ down the street.”

  According to Pierre, street harassment has become so normalized in our society many find it hard to discern why it is wrong.

  A 2008 survey of 811 women conducted by StopStreetHarassment.org showed almost 1 in 4 women had experienced street harassment by age 12 and nearly 90 percent by age 19.

  Pierre-Louis believes street harassment is part of a larger cultural problem.

  “It’s part of a rape culture, of a culture that sexualizes women’s bodies,” Pierre-Louis said.

  In an attempt to raise public awareness and draw attention to their campaign, the pair of Bed-Stuy community organizers threw a chalk party at Fulton Park in April.

  Dozens of fed-up women and girls answered their tormentors by scrawling scolding messages on the park’s pathways with bright-colored chalk.

  Messages that read: “Sorry, I am not your mami” and “Don’t ask me to smile” covered the pavement.

  “It’s so creepy when you’re walking down the street and some random guy asks you to smile just because you’re walking with a serious face,” said Ashlee Perez, 16, who checked out the slogans with friend Narrissa Miguel, 15.

  Pierre explained that the problem isn’t that women don’t like smiling. The problem is that a random guy is asking a complete stranger to give him a smile simply because he feels entitled to receive it. And sometimes – as ladies like Huff have experienced – that guy might react in a hostile manner if he doesn’t get what he wants.

  “This is creating an environment of fear,” said Pierre-Louis, who believes street harassment is one of the most pervasive forms of gender-based violence.

  “You don’t known if ‘Hey Baby’ guy is going to turn out to be a threat,” Pierre added.

  In the blink of an eye, overly friendly comments can turn into situations that feel life-threatening — as women who have been followed, pushed, spat on or circled by men know all too well, she said.

  When asked to relate her own experiences with harassment Pierre couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Where do you want me to start?” she asked, letting out a sigh of frustration. “We were even harassed by men while we were writing messages at the park!”

  Pierre couldn’t believe men were hounding the women in a place they had just designated – in chalk on the ground, at least – as a “harassment free zone”.

  There is strength in numbers, however, and the women at park felt encouraged to speak up and fight back.

  Pierre-Louis is intent on finding a way to engage in constructive dialogue with men who are actually in the act of harassing women. She admits they have a long way to go before this problem is mitigated and doesn’t quite know how to do so yet; but bringing it to the forefront of people’s attention and igniting conversation is a step in the right direction.

  Pierre and Pierre-Louis are not the only ones focused on combating street harassment. This problem has spawned advocacy groups like Boerum Hill-based Hollaback! which has come up with a phone app for posting photos and descriptions of encounters with impertinent men and has reached women and men in over 25 countries.

  International Anti-Street Harassment Week, which Brooklyn Movement Center’s chalk party was part of, drew participants from 19 countries from Poland to Peru.

  Not all the men who walked past last week’s the chalk party responded negatively to the writing on the pavement.

  Boys joined in and jotted their own phrases down. Many related their own stories, saying their mothers deal with harassment everyday. Even former aide to Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer showed his support for the cause, posing for pictures next to a signboard that read, “I am an ally.”

  Other men awkwardly avoided eye contact with the organizers, afraid, perhaps, being approached by the women, or angering them. Pierre-Louis felt the uncomfortable men would get a small taste, perhaps, of what it feels like to be a woman walking down the streets of New York on a Daily basis.

  “I don’t think I know a woman who hasn’t gone through [harassment] at least once a day,” said Brian Stanley, 32, who was looking after his 6-year-old daughter. “Men could not possible know what that feels like.”

  “Speaking up is important,” he added “These men are encouraged by women not responding and by men not admonishing their behavior.”

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• Students Taking Action

  22 May 2013 by journalism / No Comments

  Video journalist Orinthia Robinson reports about a grass roots effort to end gun violence in a Brooklyn neighborhood.

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• Parking Problems

  21 May 2013 by journalism / No Comments

  Video journalists Karen Mendoza and Michael Gomez report about the shortage of parking spaces around Brooklyn College.

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• Brooklyn College Women’s Softball

  21 May 2013 by journalism / No Comments

  Video journalist Anthony Tart profiles the Brooklyn College Women’s softball team and center fielder Kim Konklewski.  Anthony goes on to capture the play-by-play for two games.

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  In Bensonhurst, immigrants shape a church

  21 May 2013 by journalism / No Comments

  By SAMANTHA GRILLO

  On a Saturday evening, Maria Ferrera grabbed her coat from the closet in the hallway of her Bensonhurst, Brooklyn home, took her car keys from the table and shut the light in her dining room.

  “I used to go to the mass at 9:15 on Sunday mornings,” Ferrera said as she was getting ready for church, “but I don’t understand that mass anymore; it’s in Spanish.”

  She walked up the block to her car, passing houses that once belonged to families and friends she remembers seeing frequently, sitting outside on their concrete stoops, their children playing with her children. She doesn’t smell the familiar scents that lingered in the surrounding blocks of her home for decades. The stores lining the avenue two blocks away that she once shopped at now display words that she doesn’t recognize.

  Like other institutions in Bensonhurst, the Church of Regina Pacis, which has a bell tower that towers over the neighborhood, has been re-shaped by immigration. The church is not only a place for Catholics to worship, but has also become a home to many  immigrants in the neighborhood.

  Today, a myriad of cultures can be found within the parish, which once catered mainly to Italian-Americans. The adjustment has sometimes been uncomfortable  for long-time residents, but church officials say that have seen occasions when  the full parish community comes together.

  According to the Center for the Study of Brooklyn, Bensonhurst saw a 10 percent increase of the Asian population from 2000 to 2009, and a 13 percent decrease in the white population in the past decade. It also experienced a 4 percent increase in the Latino community.

  To accommodate the needs of the incoming cultures in the neighborhood, Regina Pacis had to make adjustments to its mass schedules and services. In the past, the parish held masses in Latin, Italian and English. Today, there are masses that are said in Spanish and Chinese as well. The masses include readings from the Bible and songs in these languages. Celebrations are open in all four languages.

  Right before World War II, construction on the church of Regina Pacis began, in honor of a vow that people in the neighborhood made to build a shrine to Our Lady Queen of Peace for the safe return of the soldiers from the area who were fighting in the war overseas. The church opened  in 1951, complete with shrines for the soldiers who fought.

  The grand architectural structure of the Basilica of Regina Pacis, which stands at 65th Street and 12th Avenue, is hard to miss. One gets a feeling of awe when walking through the large gold doors in the front of the church – a sense of being  very small in the midst of the high dome-shaped ceilings. Beautiful paintings of figures from the Bible are painted high on the ceiling and highlighted with the light peering through the stained glass windows on both sides of the church.

  When Bensonhurst started to see cultural changes, around 20 years ago, according to Dave Ali, previous assistant director of the parish’s migration office, the process of adapting to the cultural changes was a bit challenging at first.

  But, Ali said, the Diocese of Brooklyn has always been known to “be minister to immigrants.” As he put it, the whole world is present in the diocese. Today, there are over 80 languages spoken within the diocese, which includes Brooklyn and Queens.

  Monsignor Ronald Marino, pastor at Regina Pacis, was the immigration director for the Diocese of Brooklyn for 27 years. When he started at Regina Pacis 25 years ago, the majority of the parishioners were Italian-American. He saw a rise in the Spanish-speaking and Chinese community over the years.

  “Most of the people in the area who are Hispanic are from Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico,” Marino said. “We began outreach to them. We had Spanish mass and other devotions for them to make them feel they’re welcome.”

  For the Chinese community, it was very different. Many of the Chinese immigrants were not from a Catholic or Christian background, and some had no religion at all. For Catholic Chinese, there is a Chinese mass on Saturday nights. Marino said about 80 people attend that mass. For the other part of the community that does not practice the faith, outreach came in the form of after school programs for children, English classes, and dragon-dancing classes.

  “It’s paying off because it’s becoming clear to the Chinese community that even though they don’t know the religion, we are still welcoming them and serving them,” Marino said.

  Marino explained the many issues that immigrants face when coming to the United States. The biggest barrier is the lack of English. Many immigrants tend to stay in groups. Sociologically that is how all immigrants start, he said. They make a ghetto until they can manage things on their own.

  Another issue is that many immigrants are undocumented, making it hard for them to find work. Those who are documented work multiple jobs, which impacts their family life greatly. Many immigrants leave their family behind, coming to the United States to make a living and send money back to their loved ones at home, and this is a hardship that many face.

  “I remember very distinctly a [Chinese] woman said, ‘I walk by this church every day, I don’t know what it is, I would love to go in and see, but I’m afraid I don’t belong and I don’t know what to do.’ So I said, ‘alright’ and I took her in and showed her around,” Marino said.

  After Marino explained what all the different statues inside represented, and what different symbols inside the church meant to Catholics, the woman opened up to him and explained her situation at home. She was abused by her husband, but was too afraid to go to the police because she perceived them as a military-like force, as in China. Marino realized that that woman’s feelings reflected those of many immigrants living in the area. A sense of not belonging and fear is common when trying to assimilate into a new culture.

  “I noticed that she would go in the church every time she walked by, even when no one was there,” Marino said, “she didn’t become a Catholic, didn’t ask to, but apparently she finds great comfort going in there and it was a simple thing.”

  Marino said that the church is not the first place that immigrants go to integrate into the neighborhood. They assimilate through food and drink first, looking for markets and restaurants with those who share their culture. The church had to make an effort to tell them they were welcome. The church put signs around the neighborhood in all the languages of the neighborhood saying that all are welcome.

  “Immigrants hear with their eyes,” Marino said., “They can’t always hear and understand what you’re saying, so they hear with their eyes and what they see.”

  The church is one establishment that was able to thrive with the influx of incoming immigrants, but for Kelly Lin, it hasn’t been as easy to maintain her nail salon, K. File It, on 18^th Avenue, in the past few years.

  “The business has been quiet for the past few years,” Lin said. “A lot of people move out, and different nail salons have been opening close to here. It’s not easy.”

  Lin, who is expecting her first child in August, opened the salon five years ago when she moved to the United States from China with her husband. There was another salon in its place before she bought the space. When she took over, her clients consisted of mainly regular customers who came to the previous salon. But in the past few years, she’s seen many of those regulars move out, taking their business with them.

  Anthony Turrigiano, owner of Bari Pork Store on 18th Avenue, has been selling his specialty Italian foods to residents of Bensonhurst for 35 years. When he first opened up his store, he said, his main customers were mainly of Italian and Irish descent. About 10 years ago he felt a major shift in his business, feeling a loss of about 40 percent of his customers.

  “They moved away,” Turrigiano said.

  He said that the arriving Chinese immigrants do not shop in his store. He said he doesn’t plan to change anything in his store to try to draw in different customers because they don’t stop in and shop.

  Maria Ferrera, 63, moved to Bensonhurst in May 1975. She said that the neighborhood was a predominantly Italian community. She described it as a place in which everyone knew each other, said “hello” to one another when passing by. It was a nice neighborhood to raise her children, because many of them played with neighbors’ children. She noticed a change a little over a decade ago, when many of those familiar neighbors moved out and Chinese immigrants bought their homes.

  “They bought the property, literally came to the neighborhood with shopping bags full of money and paid cash for their homes,” Ferrera said.

  The change occurred gradually and she said that over time, there was a change in the “flavor or the neighborhood.” Her surrounding blocks of 64^th Street and 15^th Avenue lost its “Italian aromas” and were replaced with the smells of a different kind of home cooking: noodles. She finds it difficult to communicate with her new neighbors.

  The biggest change Ferrera saw was that popular stores that were around for years started to close down. Italian fruit stores and meat shops called salumerie were losing business or packing up to move to other parts of New York and New Jersey. A parishioner at Regina Pacis, she started going to mass at a different time because they were in different languages. She said there was a big decline in the amount of Italian parishioners at the church.  The English mass she used to attend on Sunday morning at 9:15 turned into a Spanish one.

  Marianne Teta, 63, lived in Bensonhurst most of her life. She said that the neighborhood that she always knew, one with a strong Italian heritage, has become one that she can hardly recognize or identify with anymore.

  “Stores either had English or Italian words written across their awnings and buildings,” Teta said. “Now when you go shopping everything is in Chinese.”

  Margaret and Paul Brucato have lived in Bensonhurst for 50 years. They, like all residents of Bensonhurst, have noticed a change in the neighborhood, but said it does not affect them.

  “The neighborhood is still good,” Margaret said. “We welcomed our neighbors who came in, and we are fortunate that they are very nice and take good care of their property.”

  The Brucatos had relatives living in the neighborhood, but they moved way a few years ago, mainly to Long Island. They ask them all the time why they don’t want to do the same.

  “Everything is close by. I have the stores, bakery, everything I need,” Margaret Brucato said.

  Although there was a decline in the number of Italian-American parishoners, the church was able to thrive because of the  immigrants who were coming to the church for comfort. The church, which became the 75^th basilica in the United States on Dec. 8, is now the home to over 1,500 parishioners. The immigrant communities are learning to take ownership of the parish..

  Marino said that when the church became a basilica in December, there was a weekend long celebration among its parishioners. After all the masses, the church served pancakes in the parish Youth Center. Marino said that the Spanish-speaking parishioners brought their own food, big trays of chicken, rice and beans, and even a live band, to their breakfast after mass on Sunday morning.

  It was then that Marino saw the connection the parishioners had with each other, as they invited in other members, Spanish-speaking or not, to join them in their celebration.

  “The evidence of that [ownership] is how many foreigners come to church. How many people come to social events that we have at the church,” Marino said. “You can’t declare people welcome. They are welcome when they say they are, and they say it in these kinds of things.”

   

   

   

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