Fort Hamilton Museum is still under attack

While the Harbor Defense Museum at Fort Hamilton still appears on the closure list by the Center of Military History (CMH), several elected officials have fired off letters to the CMH and their umbrella agencies urging that the museum be saved.

State Sens. Andrew Gounardes and Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (who heads the New York State Committee on Homeland Security and Military Affairs), Councilman Justin Brannan and Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny thus far have joined the battle to help save the museum.  Another one of the concerns CMH mentioned was the number of visitors Army museums receive.  I didn’t have that number for this museum before, but now know it’s more than 14,000 adults and children. 

Here are some of the schools that have visited the museum: Public Schools 10, 18, 25, 30, 32, 56, 64, 121, 128Q, 130Q, 135, 176, 177, 185, 186, 202, 207, IS 229, 231, 245, 255, 264, 278, IS 281, 303, 312Q, 314, J.H.S. 259 William McKinley, Fort Hamilton H.S., 372, 503, 506, 557, 682, 721K, Channel View School for Research, 971; Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn and Merrick Academy. There were several parochial schools as well.

Parents, school administrators and PTAs, you can help save the museum by sending a letter showing your support to: The Committee to Save the Harbor Defense Museum, 337 96th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11209-7840. Once we receive your letter we will forward it to the Center of Military History in Washington, D.C. We also urge other community and civic groups to join the campaign to save this treasured, relevant institution for future generations. 

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Tuesday, Aug. 5 was National Night Out at police precincts throughout the city and across the nation. In Bay Ridge’s 68th Precinct, the event was held in Shore Road Park at 79th Street and it reportedly turned out to be one of the biggest turnouts. It was hosted by the precinct and its community council. Capt. John Dasaro is the commanding officer and Ilene Sacco is the community council’s president.

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Rev. Guy Sbordone, chaplain (Faithful Friar) for the Brooklyn-based Long Island Assembly of the Knights of Columbus, held an outdoor mass on Saturday, Aug. 2 on Sheepshead Pier, owned by Baron DeKalb Council No. 1703, at 3000 Emmons Ave. Sbordone also serves as the pastor of Our Lady of Grace Church in Gravesend. Following the mass, the assembly held its annual barbecue, hosted by Eddie Velinskie, who is at the helm of the assembly group. Among the attendees were K of C members from Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Sunset Park and Staten Island.

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On Saturday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m., the  Society of Old Brooklynites, will hold its 117th annual Memorial Tribute to America’s first POWs, known as the Prison Ship Martyrs, on the top of the hill in Fort Greene Park, at the base of the149-foot-tall doric column monument. The opening ceremonies will include an FDNY honor guard and Emerald Society pipe and drum musicians. Dr. Fred Monderson is the current Society president.

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Back in March, we wrote that the City Council had passed a measure to provide seniors and owners of one- and two-family houses with free NYC trash bins. Forty-two members of the 51-member body voted in favor of bill No.1126, but the mayor had until August 1 to sign or veto it. The mayor was set to veto the bill, but now we’ve learned from Queens Councilwoman Joann Ariola, the minority leader, that Hizzoner has reversed this decision “bending to public pressure.” The NYC Sanitation Dept. will start funding the free trash barrels later this fall.