On Saturday, June 5, a ferry traveling from Highlands, New Jersey, to East 35th Pier in Manhattan crashed violently into Brooklyn’s Bushwick Inlet Park. Many of the passengers onboard were returning from a long day at the beach in Sandy Hook.
Over 100 passengers were on board at the time of the crash, all of whom were evacuated successfully by the Fire Department. Multiple travelers sustained injuries and were taken to NYU Langone Hospital.
The ferry, owned and operated by the company Seastreak, malfunctioned while travelling in the East River. The captain subsequently lost control of the vessel’s engine and steering and the boat drifted slowly toward northern Brooklyn.
The Seastreak finally ran aground in a section of the Bushwick Inlet Park that is currently closed for construction. The vessel sustained serious damage in its hull and was taking on water during the evacuation.
Fire Department boats were already near the site due to a nearby jet ski accident, and were able to arrive at the Seastreak within four minutes of the crash.
After the passengers were evacuated, a salvage crew retrieved debris from the ship that had fallen into the water. The company is still investigating the cause of the malfunction.
Saturday’s incident is the latest in a string of recent ferry snafus. On May 13, an NYC Ferry crashed into a construction barge near Brooklyn Bridge Park. Twnety-seven passengers evacuated without any injuries.
Multiple of the ship’s windows shattered upon impact. Officials from the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) attributed the incident to rising tides.
Elsewhere in North Brooklyn, the NYC Ferry landing in Greenpoint closed suddenly last week. The announcement was made via a cryptic message on Twitter, which attributed the service change to a “mechanical issue.”
Since the closure, the MTA has set up a free shuttle bus between Greenpoint and Hunters Point South. The bus route roughly mimics that of the ferry and runs every 40 minutes in both directions.
A spokesperson from NYCEDC offered this paper a statement regarding the recent India Street closure.
“Service was suspended to the Greenpoint landing after a captain noticed an issue with one of the pier piles,” it read. “Yesterday, the landing and piles were removed from the site to be inspected. At this time, the Greenpoint landing remains out of service in both directions.
“Lendlease [the real estate company that owns the landing] is currently performing an examination of the pier’s infrastructure and we anticipate they will share a timeline for repairs next week,” it continued. “As always, safety remains NYC Ferry’s top priority.”

After a months-long effort to save the structure, Greenpointers watched with dismay as construction on the historic Meserole Theater building at 723 Manhattan Avenue began.
The structure has long stood as a monument to the neighborhood’s varied history. Its elaborate marquee and plasterwork ceiling have been in place since the building’s early days as The Meserole Movie Theater, affectionately nicknamed “The Mezzy.”
The disco ball hanging in the grand hall persists from its time as a roller rink in the 70s. Since the 80s, it has been home to department stores, yet the building’s visual flares and distinct character remained.
When news broke in early February that the building’s current owner, Double U Real Estate, planned on partially demolishing the structure to make way for a five-story apartment building, nostalgic Greenpointers immediately expressed their concern.
Locals organized The Meserole Theater Project Facebook Group within a week of the announcement and it quickly grew to over 1,000 members, all of whom were united by their appreciation of the building and a mutual desire to preserve it for future generations.
“We just got to it too late,” explained John Altyn, the Facebook group’s founder and de facto spokesperson. “If I had known sooner, I would have fought for it sooner.”
A native Greenpointer and an artist in his own right, Atlyn imagined a future where the Meserole Theater building could be partially converted into a performance and community space. He hoped that the structure could be preserved to respect the memory of old Greenpoint and that any new development would directly serve the area’s current residents.
Atlyn communicated extensively with Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher in his efforts to preserve the structure, and went so far as to contact the property’s owners to see if a compromise could be reached. Unfortunately, no such deal ever manifested.
“They are going to build their little apartment and they are gonna make their little money,” said Atlyn. “I watch it go up and I think ‘oh my god!’ I just wish we would have looked at a way that it would have benefitted everybody, the community and developers.”
However, Atlyn does not see the Facebook group as a total failure. The page became a forum for the Meserole faithful to share their memories of the theater in its many forms, and led to numerous conversations about premier events, late-night screenings, and roller-derby discos that all transpired under the building’s ornate roof.
“I am still going to keep the page up if people still want to reminisce,” Atlyn explained. “It brought people together who hadn’t spoken in a really long time and it brought new people together. There’s no feeling that people should have done more. We all did what we could and we enjoyed it.”
Atlyn shared a similarly heartfelt message on the Meserole Theater Project Facebook page: “We can tell others that we tried to save it but our efforts fell short. We will still tell our stories about the Meserole Theater and the heart-felt memories about the Meserole.”
The Meserole is going the way of other notable Greenpoint structures that have been destroyed over time and replaced by new developments. However, despite the many changes, Atlyn is still confident that the neighborhood’s spirit – and that of the Meserole Theater – will live on for many years to come.
“The area is still beautiful, it’s still Greenpoint,” said Atlyn. “Things are going to come back with a new attitude and be even better than ever.”

From June 8 to June 28, a new memorial at Green-Wood Cemetery will honor the more than 52,000 New Yorkers who have already died from the COVID-19 pandemic. The new installation — titled ‘WE REMEMBER: A COMMUNITY COVID MEMORIAL’ — features images, nameplates, and other items along a 200 feet stretch of the iron gate at the Cemetery’s iconic entrance on Fifth Avenue and 25th Street.

Naming the Lost Memorials, a nonprofit that has organized previous COVID-19 memorials in New York City, worked in collaboration with Green-Wood Cemetery to bring WE REMEMBER to life. The cemetery also partnered with over 20 local organizations to help promote and finance the memorial, including Brooklyn Roots, Flushing Town Hall, the Worker Justice Project, Hebrew Tabernacle, and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.
“All of us at Green-Wood have seen, firsthand, the toll that COVID-19 has taken on family, friends, our community, and even our industry,” said Kay Turner, an artist, folklorist, and team member at Naming the Lost Memorials. “This beautiful living memorial gives us a special place to remember what they meant to us and how they each made this world a better place.”
Turner continued: “Even as New Yorkers begin to feel the joys of opening, the pandemic rages on in other parts of the world. It’s not over. Nor is the sense of loss we feel knowing that 600,000 of our loved ones in the United States are gone from us. Mourning and remembrance are still necessary acts. Naming those lost to COVID-19 must continue. Our memorial at Green-Wood provides a place to do just that.”
WE REMEMBER functions as an interactive exhibit. Community members and passerby are encouraged to create their own nameplates to add to the ever-growing memorial wall.

Unfortunately, the opening ceremony that was planned for the memorial was cancelled due to weather, yet Green-Wood still hopes to organize candle lightings, name readings, and other events down the road.

Green-Wood Cemetery experienced a dramatic increase in burials and cremations during the pandemic’s heights last spring and summer. The volume of deaths was so great that the cemetery was forced to institute a partial cap on the number of cremations it would allow within a day. Although case numbers and deaths continue to decrease, the staff at Green-Wood Cemetery has remained extremely busy since the pandemic’s start.

For more information on the memorial, visit https://namingthelost.com/memorials/.

Under the K Bridge Park, a new public park built beneath the overpass of the Kosciuszko Bridge, officially opened last week.
The new park is seven acres and comes equipped with bike paths, greenspace, and skate park.
“The Kosciuszko Bridge project continues to reap benefits not only for motorists, pedestrians and the cycling community, but for a North Brooklyn community craving for more open space in the midst of a worldwide pandemic,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo. “Under the K Bridge Park is living proof that the Kosciuszko Bridge project didn’t just connect two New York City boroughs, but is helping to transform an entire community.”
The bike lanes at Under the K connect to North Brooklyn’s growing bike lane network and to Queens via the shared-use path on the Kosciuszko Bridge.
The new Kosciuszko Bridge officially opened in August 2019 and included pedestrian walkways and bike lanes. The project represented the first major bridge crossing built in New York City since the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened to traffic in 1964.
Under the K also features more than 20,000 trees and plants, bringing a much needed touch of color to the largely industrial Newtown Creek waterfront.
“With the addition of this truly innovative urban park, DOT is expanding those benefits to further integrate green, open space for the enjoyment of all New Yorkers,”. “The COVID-19 public health emergency underscored the need for outdoor recreational opportunities and that’s exactly what Under the K Bridge Park provides,” said Marie Therese Dominguez, commissioner of the state Department of Transportation. “With expansive walkways, innovative design and landscaping, this bridge truly connects people through infrastructure and greenspace.”
The new park will be open daily from dawn until dusk, with COVID-19 health and safety measures in place to ensure park visitors comply with the state’s guidance on masks, social distancing, and gatherings.
“North Brooklyn has been historically underserved with its amount of parks and open space,” North Brooklyn Parks Alliance founding board member Joseph Vance explained. “Under the K Bridge Park opens the door for innovative transformation of underutilized public land for open space.”

Ernesto Gonzalez first fell in love with pottery when he took an entry-level class in high school. After many years of study and practice, he has now transformed that passion into a thriving business that offers lessons and rental space to pottery enthusiasts and novices alike in North Brooklyn.
“I started giving pottery lessons in Bushwick about five years ago,” Gonzalez explained. “It started as a simple sip-and-spin thing with friends and family, but then eventually developed into a full business.”
Gonzalez moved from California to Bushwick in 2013, and brought his love for clay making with him. In 2020 he moved again, this time to Greenpoint, where he opened a pottery workshop and studio named Barro (Spanish for “mud”) at 67 West Street.
Gonzalez continued offering classes outside through most of the pandemic as he prepared to open the new workshop. Coming out of the pandemic, he is hoping to take his growing business to the next level.
“There was no pottery studio in this area,” Gonzalez said. “People have loved having such a convenient place to come and learn pottery. Some of my students live only a block or two away.
Barro offers a variety of classes for pottery newcomers and experts. Gonzalez recommends the one-off “Intro to the Pottery Wheel” class for beginners who are mainly focused on having fun.
For more experienced potters, he suggests the four-week “Fundamentals of Wheel Throwing” course that highlights more advanced techniques.
After taking a class, students are encouraged to rent a throwing wheel to continue honing their craft.
Gonzales credits his success in part to the vibrant and welcoming culture of North Brooklyn.
“Greenpoint is so close-knit and supportive,” he said. “Everyone here believes in me and supports me, and I am really grateful for that.”
Even though he now instructs dozens of students a week, Gonzalez has been able to continue honing his own abilities as a potter at Barro.
“I believe that you can only become a better potter by teaching,” he said. “The fun is in the process.”
Formerly an accountant, Gonzalez now works full time at Barro teaching classes and creating commissioned pieces. He hopes that his success story will inspire other artists and entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic comes to a close.
“The city lost a lot of good businesses during the pandemic,” Gonzalez explained, “but now that things are coming back to life, it is the time to try new things. If it doesn’t work out, you can always try it again in some different capacity.”

Registration for classes at Barro can be made at barrobk.com. Additionally, Gonzalez will offer multiple in-person pottery demos on weekends throughout the summer at Greenpoint Terminal Market.

Follow Barro on Instagram @barrobk.

Calling all rock bands! 

Nonnas 1977, a classic rock themed pizzeria with locations in Astoria and Bayside, just announced that they will be hosting a “battle of the bands” competition on their social media platforms.

The winning band will receive a $100 NONNAS 1977 gift card, a custom pie named after them, a feature story in the local Queens Ledger Newspaper, and a chance to perform live in front of fans at NONNAS’ Astoria location on Astoria Boulevard later this month.

To enter, bands are required to post a one-minute video performance on their Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok feed and tag @nonnas1977 Pizzeria and use the hashtag @nonnas1977bandwars. Bands can rock out to an original or cover classic rock song. If the band does not have a social media page, the performance can be submitted by emailing john@queensledger.com.

NONNAS 1977 will select the top 4 bands, post each band’s performance on their Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok feeds, and NONNAS 1977’s fans will vote by commenting on their favorite performance.

The submission deadline is Wednesday, June 16th and voting will start on Friday, June 18th on all NONNAS 1977 social media platforms of Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok. 

“We are as just passionate about rock and roll music as we are about making great pizza,” said NONNAS 1977 co-owner Leon Leandrou. 

That fact is evident as soon as you walk into NONNAS 1977. 

The pizzeria names each of their pies after famous classic rock song such as “Proud Mary” or “Roxanne”. There is classic rock memorabilia on the walls, and classic rock playing on the speakers, making the NONNAS 1977 experience a rocking one.

You can follow NONNAS 1977’s “Battle of The Bands” competition on their social media accounts.