Generally Speaking: Bay Ridge political debates draw big attendance

Directors at both the Bay Ridge Community Council and the Bay Ridge Council of Aging are ecstatic about the large crowds they drew for, first, the “Great Bay Ridge Debate” at the school auditorium at Holy Angels Catholic Academy and, then, the second debate at the Fort Hamilton Senior Center.

Former BRCC President Alex Conti moderated the first debate and former BRCC President Peter Killen, the current head honcho of the Bay Ridge AARP, moderated the second between the elected incumbents and their rivals.

However, it was the second debate which featured the first face to face dust-off between Congressmember Michael Grimm and Democrat Domenic Recchia that drew nationwide attention. Photos of the event taken by an AP photographer appeared in papers throughout the country, in addition to the video coverage by NY1, and by the daily and weekly newspapers.

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John Mancuso, a former Democrat City Council and State Assembly candidate who was recently toiling as an outreach coordinator for Public Advocate Tish James, has returned to Brooklyn, as the newest chief of staff for City Councilmember Vinnie Gentile.

Bay Ridge poet laureate Peter Scarpa, a past president of the Bay Ridge Historical Society, is out with a new self-published tome, titled Flicker of Sunshine. In one of his amusing anecdotes he mentions “Ghosts running around Bay Ridge.” He also co-authored three prior books on vintage photos of Bay Ridge.

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Amateur baseball historian and collector  Robert Fraser was a guest speaker at the October monthly meeting of the Society of Old Brooklynites, where he brought along and discussed a silver trophy cup he had acquired that was originally presented to Henry Chadwick, the father of baseball, by the Society of Old Brooklynites back in December of 1900.

The occasion was to commemorate Chadwick’s 50th anniversary as a journalist. Over the years, he had written for several publications and was a life member of the Society of Old Brooklynites. In 1938, the sports writers association elected Chadwick to the National Base Ball Hall of Fame.

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