Michael Randazzo

celebrity

NetsGC GM Ivan Curtiss Brings Old-Time Savvy to Newbie World of E-Sports

BARCLAYS CENTER – The 2019 NBA 2K League Draft is at 5 p.m. tonight at Barclays Center, and if you have no idea what that is, you’re probably NOT a millennial who grew up assuming the persona of Michael Jordan, LeBron James or Russell Westbrook on a Nintendo, PlayStation

fort greene

Farewell Officer Brathwaite: Luminaries Send 88th Precinct Mainstay Into Retirement In Style

l. to r., Officer Sargent, Public Advocate James, Officer Brathwaite, Council Member Cumbo, 88th Precinct Council President Delia M. Hunley-Adossa, 88th Precinct Council Vice President John Harrison (Courtesy Fort Greene Focus/Michael Randazzo)After two decades of faithful service to Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, Officer Varlos Brathwaite is retiring

fort greene

Ingersoll Meeting Turns Contentious Over Who Qualifies For LGBTQ-Friendly Senior Housing

Public Advocate James took center stage (Courtesy Fort Greene Focus/Michael Randazzo)When a contentious meeting Monday night at the Ingersoll Community Center about a proposed building with 145 affordable apartments for seniors — including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) — threatened to devolve into chaos,

Education

Pratt President Schutte Announces He Will Step Down Following The 2016-17 Academic Year

Photo by Sigrid Estrada (Courtesy Pratt Institute)Thomas F. Schutte, Ph.D — the seemingly ageless leader of Pratt Institute — will be stepping down as president at the Clinton Hill art, architecture and design school following the 2016-17 academic year. Schutte, whose 1993 arrival in Clinton Hill signaled a profound shift

Education

Pratt in Cuba: Long-Term Cultivation Now Bears Fruit With Education Partnership

L-R: The signing of the partnership agreement; Rolando González Patricio, Rector of the Universidad de las Artes and Thomas F. Schutte, President of Pratt Institute. (Photo by Michel Pou/Pratt Institute.)As President Barack Obama made a historic trip as the first sitting U.S. President in 88 years (since

fort greene

Meet Ebay Covington, New York Islanders Super Fan

Image courtesy of Ebay Covington.New York Islanders swag may be worn across the New York metro area, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into Barclays Center attendance; with an average 13,500 people per game — down from 15,500 at the Nassau Coliseum and the third-worst crowd in the

Arts & Culture

New UrbanGlass Exhibit Invites The Public To Create Art

Celeste Wilson’s work describes “a literal overlap between drawing and glass-blowing.” (Image courtesy of Celeste Wilson.)Our favorite local glass-working exhibition and work space, UrbanGlass, regularly curates shows and holds open studios to put the art of its artists on display. However, the latest exhibit takes it a step

fort greene

With All of NYC Closed Due to a Blizzard, Why Did The St. Francis Vs. LIU Brooklyn Doubleheader Go On?

Photo by Michael RandazzoOn Saturday afternoon, as Winter Storm Jonas was pummeling New York City with a near-record 26 inches of snow, the city went into lockdown mode, by mayoral decree. With the exception of a handful of subway lines, all city transportation—car, bus, bike, horse carriage—was suspended.

Eric Manson

A Safer, Smarter Halloween Meant Fort Greene Teens Traveling Far From Home

Photo courtesy of Eric Manson.As children gathered at the Ingersoll Community Center for Halloween Eve — referred to as “Mischief Night,” where teenagers engage in pranks and vandalism, in many parts of the country — local dad Eric Manson fretted about his son, Ramel, who was commuting from East New York’

Fort Greene Sports Summer Day Camp

Don’t Panic! There Are Still Spots Available in Local Fort Greene Summer Camps

Photo courtesy of City Kid Camp.Despite next Monday’s opening of the Brooklyn summer camp season being mere days away, parents have no reason to panic. Spots for children ages 6 to 18 remain available at camps in the Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene and the Navy Yard neighborhoods. Izyr

Mark Parsons

PrattSIDE’s Putnam Triangle Plaza Sculpture: A Q&A With Professor Mark Parsons

Image via PrattSIDE.As the debate continues over the future of Putnam Plaza, Mark Parsons, an architect who is also a professor in Pratt Institute’s undergraduate architecture program, responded by email to questions about a proposed sculptural installation on the plaza by PrattSIDE. Founded in 2012, PrattSIDE seeks the

phillip kellogg

Gentrification And Its Discontents: The Conversation Around Putnam Triangle Plaza

A stark tale of Brooklyn gentrification is playing out in Clinton Hill, as it has over the past four years. Despite opposition from some of the merchants and residents it is intended to serve, Putnam Triangle Plaza, a creation of the Fulton Area Business Improvement District (FAB Alliance), has progressed

boxing

Big Boxing Night Kicks Off Barclays-LIU Partnership At Historic Paramount Theater

Amy Valentine brought her daughter Brooke, 11 months, to the Paramount for her very first boxing match. (Photo by Michael Randazzo)In the first of what will become a regular program of public events at Long Island University’s (LIU) Brooklyn Paramount Theater, Thursday night the “Brooklyn Brawl” featured seven

graffiti art

Behind Paul St. Savage’s Sneaky Subway Art

In New York, a city that fancies itself the art capital of the world, it’s no surprise that artwork presents itself almost everywhere, including the workaday subway car. A recent “B” train outing to Coney Island, for example, revealed an unexpected payload: cleverly slipped into an advertisement poster holder

Fowler Square

Playoff Hockey Made An Appearance In Fowler Square With RangersTown Display

Photo by Michael Randazzo.Yesterday (Monday, May 18) afternoon from 12 to 6pm Fort Greene’s Fowler Square was filled with Ranger blue as part of a mobile “RangersTown” promotion in advance of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals with the Rangers facing the pesky Tampa Bay Lightning. Local

Pratt President Tom Schutte

Pratt President Schutte On Art And Community: Past, Present, And Future

Photo by Bob Handelman.Since being named Pratt Institute’s 11th president in 1993, Tom Schutte has overseen substantial change on the school’s 25-acre campus while witnessing a transformation of the Clinton Hill neighborhood that Pratt has called home since its founding in 1887. During Schutte’s tenure, Pratt

Em Brownlowe

Photo Finish: “Language Unites Us”

Photos by Michael Randazzo.Seen at the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene. “Em Brownlowe is traveling across the country from Portland, Oregon and he sets up a stand to create spontaneous poems for those who want them – $5 a pop.” Language unites us this is why I am drawn to

Dan Trujillo

Tonight: Intergenerational Theatre Performance at LIU Brooklyn

Photo by Dan Trujillo.BY MICHAEL RANDAZZO Tonight at LIU Brooklyn’s Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts, a new intergenerational theatre company, called Roots & Branches, will present two shows: “Losing the Signal” and “iMove.” Directed by Eva Burgess, “Losing the Signal” highlights the anxieties both young and old

Ingersoll Community Center

Local Soccer Club Kids Greet NY Cosmos Player Keasel Broome In Fort Greene

Photo by James Zhang.BY MICHAEL RANDAZZO Last Friday afternoon, April 24, Ingersoll Community Center’s expansive basketball court was filled with nearly 80 kids happily dribbling balls — with their feet. The occasion? A culmination celebration for a three-month community soccer project organized by Young Rock Soccer Academy, a local

Brooklyn Bird Club

Stork’s Special Delivery: Two Hawk Chicks Born High Above Fort Greene

Photo by Gerri Hernández.BY MICHAEL RANDAZZO Last Monday, April 20, Gerri Hernandéz, who has been closely monitoring a pair of red-tailed hawks living in Fort Greene, noticed that the female hawk was “restless” after weeks of being rooted to her nest high above LIU Brooklyn’s athletic fields. The

Belinda Gonzalez

Unexpected Guests: Pair Of Red-Tailed Hawks Nest In LIU Brooklyn Athletic Lights

Photos by Gerri Hernández.BY MICHAEL RANDAZZO Gerri Hernández knows what it’s like to be kicked to the curb. Last year, the long-time downtown Brooklyn resident was forced out of fourth-story walk-up near Albee Square that she had lived in for 14 years. That is why she doesn’t

Alex Trezza

LIU’s New Head Coach Trezza Faces St. John’s In Baseball Home Opener

LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds’ Tommy Jakubowski on the field. (Photo by Mike McLaughlin/LIU Athletics.)BY MICHAEL RANDAZZO Eternal winter takes another hit today as the crack of the bat—like a siren call announcing spring’s arrival—will be heard in Fort Greene today (Wednesday, March 18) beginning at 3

Saint Francis Terriers

LIU Blackbirds Vs. St. Francis Terriers In Playoffs: Will The Third Time Be The Charm?

St. Francis’s Jalen Cannon shoots over LIU’s Trevin Woods in the Terriers 74-69 win over the Blackbirds on February 26. (Photo by Bob Dea.)BY MICHAEL RANDAZZO After two regular season losses—including a 74-69 overtime defeat last Thursday, February 26, at the Steinberg Wellness Center, the LIU

Saint Francis College

St. Francis, Coca-Cola Assist Local Soccer Group In Spreading The Fun

Children from PS 20 and Arts & Letters with coaches from Young Rock Soccer Academy and St. Francis Brooklyn men’s soccer team. (Photo by Michael Randazzo)BY MICHAEL RANDAZZO On a recent Friday afternoon at P.S. 20 The Clinton Hill School, children ages 6 through 10 were crowded