Ben Masten

Ben Masten is a freelance writer, native New Yorker and a student at the Craig Newmark School of journalism at CUNY.

Teknopolis brings VR, Interactive Art, and Singing Clones to BAM

“Virtual Growth” lights up a cityscape. Photo—Mike Benigno/ BAM publicity photo. On Saturday, inside an exhibition hall at BAM Fisher, Lieven van Velthoven reached up over his head, grabbed a beam of light that was projected onto the wall behind him and handed it to an excited 6-year-old boy.

Arts & Culture

BAM’s New Artistic Director Previews His First Next Wave Festival

David Binder by Jesse Winter/BAMThe Next Wave Festival at BAM has always been a showcase for new, exciting theater. Sometimes the shows are high-concept. Sometimes they’re intriguingly weird. Some might be politely called “challenging.” What the festival isn’t, ever, is boring. This year’s festival, which starts

brighton beach

Caught Between Rising Waters and Rising Rates In Brighton Beach

Hassan Ahmad at home in Brighton Beach. Ben Masten/BklynerBRIGHTON BEACH – Earlier this year, Hurricanes Florence and Michael cut huge swaths of destruction across the southeastern United States, hundreds of miles from Brooklyn. In Brighton Beach, a neighborhood devastated by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Hassan Ahmad, is keeping a wary

brighton beach

On A Community Board, Frustration (And Hurt Feelings) Over Term Limits

Pat Singer (center) in her office at the Brighton Neighborhood Association in Brighton Beach. Photo Ben Masten/BklynerCONEY ISLAND – This is not a good year to be part of the political establishment. Officials at all levels of government have found themselves suddenly under scrutiny as the possibility of losing their