Christopher Calloway Brooks has been keeping his grandfather Cab Calloway’s legacy alive through his orchestra’s lively performances.
On Augutst 5, the Cab Calloway Orchestra will perform in Astoria Park as part of the Waterfront Concert Series presented by the Central Astoria Local Development Coalition.
The orchestra will perform a number of songs popularized by Calloway, including “Minnie the Moocher” which was the first album by an African American bandleader to sell one million copies.
The tune’s famous call-and-response “hi-de-hi-de-ho” chorus — improvised when he couldn’t recall a lyric — became Calloway’s signature phrase for the rest of his career.
Calloway rose to prominence performing at Harlem’s legendary Cotton Club in the 30s and 40s. He passed away in 1994 at the age of 86.
“I was honored, but I was always talking to my family about it,” Brooks said about taking over his grandfather’s band. “I was the only one with formal musical training in the family. It has continued to be a great honor throughout the years to carry forward his legacy.”
Brooks tries to recreate the experience of seeing his grandfather, including wearing his classic zoot suit on stage.
“I try to do a couple of costume changes in between numbers, and I think people can look forward to seeing that out in Queens,” Brooks said. “I adapt certain aspects of his performance style, but I also put my own stamp on it.
“I think as time passes, my intention for the orchestra is to do more new music and less repertory music,” he added.

During the first two weekend in August, the C, E, F, and G trains will experience widespread diversions in Brooklyn.
The service changes will allow MTA workers to upgrade the Rutgers Tunnel, an aging piece of infrastructure under the East River that was badly damaged during Superstorm Sandy, and to install cables and WiFi equipment at the Jay Street/Metrotech, Borough Hall, and Hoyt-Schermerhorn stations.
Usually, service disruptions are a burden for New Yorkers. In this case, however, there is at least one silver lining.
The G, the snail-ish option for many Greenpoint commuters and the only subway line exclusive to the outer boroughs, will be extended to Coney Island for those two weekends.
Running on the F line, the modified G route will give the people of North Brooklyn unusually quick and easy access to the the iconic boardwalk and its beaches.
“We plan carefully to keep service disruptions to a minimum, but there are times when service changes can actually result in localized improvements for riders,” said New York City Transit acting vice president Demetrius Crichlow. “In this case, we are extending the G line by more than five miles and giving customers from Greenpoint and Williamsburg a direct route to Coney Island.”
The G train will stop at every station along the F line. A shuttle bus will substitute G train service between the Bedford-Nostrand Avenue and Fourth Avenue-Ninth Street stations, while F trains will be running along the C line.
The brief expansion of subway service is a welcome change during a summer in which North Brooklyn’s access to beaches has been crippled. In May, the Greenpoint stop of NYC Ferry suddenly closed due to a mechanical issue.
The ferry, which carried Greenpoint residents to the Rockaways in summers past, has been closed ever since.

After over a year and a half of near constant closures, restrictions, and other setbacks, New York City restaurants finally had a reason to celebrate this past week. NYC Restaurant Week has returned to the City, this time lasting for over a month (July 19th to August 22nd) to accommodate for the business lost during the pandemic.
Since its inaugural year back in 1992, Restaurant Week has grown into a tradition for locals, students, and other New Yorkers excited by the prospect of a quick, cheap, delicious meal.
Organized by the Mayor’s Office and hundreds of partnering restaurants, the celebration offers special $21, $39, and $125 menus that allow guests to sample new foods at a reasonable price.
“It’s extraordinary, the greatest restaurants in the world — an opportunity for you and me to go out there and experience them… even if you don’t have a lot of money, great, great, deals,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the start of Restaurant Week last month. “We know the restaurant community went through so much during the pandemic, but people fought back. The restaurant owners, the employees, they fought back, they kept their businesses going, and now Restaurant Week is going to give them more customers, and a whole lot more energy.”
A total of 511 restaurants are featured throughout the five boroughs during Restaurant Week. However, only 47 of those are in Brooklyn. Queens has even less, with only 33 eateries featured throughout the month.
Our paper caught up with the owner of one of these lucky restaurants to discuss their experience.
“It [Restaurant Week] has turbo-charged everything,” explained Bart Hubbuch, owner of Prospect Heights Korean BBQ fusion joint Memphis Seoul (569 Lincoln Place). “It has been unbelievably, mind-bogglingly successful.”
Hubbuch continued: “I am from Texas originally, but I am so honored to feel at home here in New York. It’s a prestigious thing to be honored in Restaurant Week.”
Multiple North Brooklyn favorites are also featured this restaurant week, including Domino Park Taqueria Tacocina (25 River Street), Williamsburg Mexican Restaurant De Mole (2 Hope Street), and the original Junior’s Cheesecake location in Downtown Brooklyn (386 Flatbush Ave).
Sean McCloskey, General Manager at De Mole, praised the City for making Restaurant Week even more accessible this year.
“The nice feature this time with restaurant week is NYC & COMPANY has decided to waive the normal fee that is associated with participation in Restaurant Week,” McCloskey explained. “Doing so has allowed the small mom & pop restaurants to participate, where in prior years they wouldn’t due to the fee.”
He continued: “Restaurant Week has played a major role in bringing people to the restaurants after the pandemic, as the pandemic has taken a devastating toll on the restaurant & hospitality industry in NYC. This year one of the nicer features that NYC & COMPANY has added is the signa Menu, which has been a draw for our customers, hopefully it is something they will consider offering from here on.”
In addition to in-person dining, many featured restaurants are offering take-out options this restaurant week to accommodate those who are still wary of large crowds.

The Brooklyn DA’s Office last week asked a judge in Brooklyn Criminal Court to dismiss 3,578 pening marijuana cases.
The DA’s Office also asked Judge Keisha Espinal to vacate any relevant arrest warrants, judgments of conviction and guilty pleas related to those cases.
“For too long, criminalization of marijuana has disproportionately impacted young people and communities of color whose members made up about 90 percent of those arrested,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez during a virtual town hall announcing the request. “These arrests ruined the lives of thousands of people over the years, saddling many with criminal convictions that prevented them from pursuing opportunities in life.”
If the judge grants the request, only eight criminal cases involving marijuana would remain active, and all of them involve allegations of driving while under the influence of the drug.
The request by the DA’s Office comes after the state voted on legislation to legalize recreational marijuana earlier this year. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill in March.
Gonzalez’s predecessor Ken Thompson stopped prosecuting marijuana possession cases in 2014, and later stopped prosecuting most cases involving the use of marijuana.
“Since its passage, my office has moved to dismiss open cases,” said Gonzalez. “I asked the court to dismiss over 3,500 warrant cases that remained in the system, effectively clearing the Brooklyn docket from these vestiges of previous models of policing and prosecution.”