2016 In Review: 11 Neighbors Who Made Our Year
There are many mixed feelings swirling around the borough as we say goodbye to 2016. But at the very last moments of the year, we find ourselves filled with gratitude for the truly inspiring neighbors that make us proud to call Brooklyn home.
Below, find a sampling of 11 profiles that are making us happy this week. They are artists, activists, tour guides, fishermen, food makers, and drag queens. They’re people who are doing what they love, and are all unabashedly themselves. These 11 stories aren’t even close to all the amazing people we’ve met and wrote about this year, but we gave you a sampling from around the borough to showcase how amazing people are — not just in one neighborhood, but all over Brooklyn.
As we move into 2017, we’re always on the lookout for inspiring people to profile. Are you (or someone you know) doing something you’d like to share? Reach out to us at editor@bklyner.com. We can’t wait to meet you all!
1. Kensington: Activist Shahana Hanif On Muslim Womanhood, Disability Justice & Home
Shahana Hanif is a Bangladeshi, a Muslim, an activist, a writer, a performance artist on a mission. “How do we cultivate societies that are more caring and deeply empathizing, rather than just leaving after the ‘How are you? Good?’” Read about her inspiring work, her writing, and why she calls Kensington home here.
2. Park Slope: Meet Author/Illustrator Stephen Savage: Sweet Dreams, Wise Trucks, And Kentile Goodbyes
“This area is the language of trucks, outdoor signs, and warehouses. Neon type and roadways. I didn’t set out to be a truck person,” says Park Slope artist Stephen Savage. Read about why monuments are vital, crazy kid logic, and the magic of children’s book illustration here.
3. Flatbush: Flatbush Hair Artists Celebrate One Year On Nostrand Avenue
Leo Brown, hair stylist and wig maker, and Jeffrey Richardson, a finance professional turned stylist, have teamed up to run a hair extension business with a unique mission: 100 percent real human hair with a genuine human touch. And they’re not deterred in the least by being two bald men! Read more about the stigma surrounding their industry, how they make wigs, and why they love Flatbush here.
4. Bensonhurst: New Utrecht High School Students Fear More Racism, Sexism Following Trump Election
The day after the 2016 Presidential election, we went out onto the streets to discuss how people were feeling. While we found many Bensonhurst neighbors quite politically divided, students at New Utrecht High School were eager to speak their mind. Read what they had to say — and why it’s so important for the neighborhood — here.
5. Gowanus: It’s Joseph Alexiou’s Gowanus Canal, We Just Swim In It
Author Journalist and tour guide Joseph Alexiou mixes deeply-researched history with accessibility for the “sludge newbie” hits the sweet spot of “pop culture history.” Read why the smell of the Gowanus Canal is worthy of intense historical study here.
6. Sheepshead Bay: Check Out The Huge Shark Caught This Weekend Off Sheepshead Bay
This summer we got an inside look at the local intrepid anglers who caught 200-pound sharks during the Stella Maris annual shark fishing tournament. Get caught-up in the story here.
7. Bay Ridge: ‘Shimmy ‘Til Her Garters Break’: Drag Queen Visury Fox Heats Up Bay Ridge
Bay Ridge drag queen and performer Visury Fox talks about the local gay community (or lack thereof), her humble beginnings at Toys for Tots, and the clubs on New Utrecht Ave in the 70s. Find out why you should check out her “Sassy Thursdays” drag show performance here.
8. Park Slope: From Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Sect To Street Artist – Sara Erenthal Shows Her ‘Three Selves’
If you’ve ever walked around Park Slope, chances are you’ve seen Sara Erenthal’s playful and inquisitive artwork scrawled on discarded mattresses, store grates, and other in-your-face spaces. Read about the artists’ flight from an arranged marriage at age 17 and the storied past that makes her want to create here.
9. Kensington: 50 years of love — and great pizza — on Church Avenue
The Imburgia family has been running Korner Pizza at the same location on Church Avenue and East 3rd Street since 1966. And decades after the family’s arrival in the U.S., you can still hear him chatting in Sicilian with his wife, Natalie, and three daughters. Imburgia vividly remembers what it was like to come to New York City as a teenager — and remembers the ups and downs in Kensington from each decade that followed. Read the full Korner Pizza family history here.
10. Sunset Park: Helado De Coco Keeps Its Sunset Park Roots
Hector Gonzalez wakes up at 7:30am most days to start preparing ices for his Sunset Park shop. “We do our products in two days from morning to night,” he said. “We shop for ingredients the week before. It’s an all day process of making ices,” says the pro ice maker. Read more about the shop’s roots in Sunset Park here.
11. East New York & Beyond: Tony Danza Talks New Play, Growing Up In Brooklyn, And Fresh Mozzarella.
Tony Danza is known for starring on the 1978 – 1983 hit TV show Taxi as well as Who’s the Boss? Before his new show at the Kings Theater, we got to chat with him about what it was like to grow up in East New York, his latest projects, and what he misses most about his youth. Read the full interview here.
