The Brooklyn Rail
Critical Perspectives on Art, Politics and Culture
February 2006
Local
Confessions of a Child Smuggler
by Gabriel ThompsonLocal
At present, my greatest fear is not that I will be mistaken for a kidnapper, or a child molester, or someone set on bringing a two-year-old girl and her three-year-old brother from Mexico to the United States on a diabolical organ transplant scheme. My concern is less fantastic, and more frightening: I am worried that once we board the plane from Mexico City to Newark, Jackie and Juan will begin to cry and I won’t know how to get them to stop.
Santa Claus is on Strike
by Phong Bui and Matthew VazLocal
“No fuckin’ give backs. No way. Not one,” explains Kevin Murphy as he drives a Manhattan-bound N train through Brooklyn on Saturday December 12th. “There’s no fuckin’ chance.”
Feminists Challenge FDA on Emergency Contraception
by Eleanor BaderLocal
Carroll Gardens resident Annie Tummino knows that if you’re going to pick a fight, it’s wise to choose a worthy adversary. So she has. The 26-year-old feminist activist is the lead plaintiff in Tummino v. von Eschenbach, a lawsuit challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s refusal to make Emergency Contraception (EC)—or the Morning After Pill (MAP)—available over-the-counter.
Memory and the Atlantic Yards
by Brian J. CarreiraLocal
In this era of internet, cell phones, and 24-hour news, memory is in a state of rather substantial humiliation. This wasn’t always so. Cicero considered memory one of the sublime qualities of Caesar (“Fuit in illo ingenium, ratio, memoria, literae, cura, cogiatio, diligentia”, Philippica Book II). Book X of Augustine’s Confessions is dedicated entirely to exploring its nature. Memory’s decline is in direct proportion to the ease with which one can depend on other means to retain information. With the internet, we no longer retain what we read, assuming it will be accessible later. Phone numbers are stored on memory chips in our cell phones, and calling when one arrives at a location has replaced actually committing to plans. The 24-hour news cycle sees laborious coverage of moments but no reflection to connect past events to present.
Greenpoint's Empty Space
by Sabine HeinleinLocal
Janusz Pukianiec hauls a heavy suitcase down the front stairs of St. Stanislaus Koska Church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. “Coats and blankets for the homeless people,” he mumbles as he walks to the church annex next door. Like evanescent shadows, two middle-aged men shyly follow him. Their swollen hands are bright red from the cold; their faces are bruised and intimidated. A biting odor of alcohol and sweat accompanies them indoors. Inside, Pukianiec offers coffee and tea. One of the men eagerly starts pulling tea bags, cups and spoons out of a makeshift cabinet, fingering the ceramic mugs.
Builders Beware: In Williamsburg, A Community At Work
by Williams ColeLocal
Ever since the rezoning of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint area last spring, the building of luxury McCondos and the real and rumored plans of a neighborhood Supersized run rampant. Lots are being sold, buildings demolished, and immense cranes loom on the Northside and Southside, while familiar views such as the Orthodox Church near McCarren Park will now be paired with the towering presence of new residents.
