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‘Badass Lady-Folk TV’: Meredith Binder of Red Hook

Christine Stoddard on March 6, 2024

By Christine Stoddard | cstoddard@queensledger.com

An actress, filmmaker, Peace Corps alum, and retired engineer shares her oral history.

Happy Women’s History Month! The following is an excerpt from an episode of the talk show “Badass Lady-Folk,” featuring guest Meredith Binder. This audio-only conversation was recorded in July 2023. Hosted by Christine Stoddard, the show is now filmed at Manhattan Neighborhood Network since August 2023. “Badass Lady-Folk” originated on Radio Free Brooklyn, where it currently airs on Fridays at 9am.

This transcript has been edited and condensed for print purposes. Transcription support was provided by BQE Media editorial assistant Britney Trachtenberg.

Christine: You’re listening to the Badass Lady-Folk. My name is Christine Stoddard. I’m your host as always, since 2016. Thank you everyone for listening. Today my wonderful guest is Meredith Binder. Hi, Meredith.

Meredith: Hi, Christine. Thanks for having me.

Christine: Yeah! Thanks so much for being on! So, how do I know Meredith? I know Meredith through the world of theatre. We met in a show that I co-produced with Beverly Bonner at the Broadway Comedy Club. Meredith has been in my comedy show “Quail Tails.” She’s done “Cleansing Limpia,” a workshop piece I had at Irondale. There’s probably something I’m forgetting, but yeah, we already worked together a bunch in the past few months that we’ve known each other and it’s been great…or, I guess, half a year at this point. But, I wanted to talk to Meredith on the show not just for, you know, some insight into her acting and filmmaking work, but really to focus on her first career in engineering. So, Meredith, tell me, how did you become a “lady engineer?”

Meredith: Well, it really wasn’t intentional. I was in college and I was taking a physics class, just, you know, a prereq for whatever. The physics instructor was the only woman physics professor. Granted, this is 1979, at that point. She said to me, “You have potential. I’m going to ask my husband who’s an experimentalist to give you a job in his lab.” She was a theorist. [She said], “He hires a small number of undergraduates every year.” So, she arranged this. Then, the next thing you know, I was a physics major and I’m not sure how that happened…if I had to be…but I didn’t have any other ideas [about] what I wanted to do, so I became a physics major. Then, I couldn’t get a job and I didn’t know what to do. I decided to get a Master’s Degree in molecular engineering because I didn’t have any better ideas. So, this was all very…just, sort of…life happened to me because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do.

Christine: Ah! So, what were you doing working in the lab?

Meredith: Oh, as an undergraduate?

Christine: Yeah.

Meredith: I was building a scintillation counter or, at least, parts to be used as a scintillation counter. And then, over summer break—

Christine: I don’t know what that is. What is that?

Meredith: Oh, okay. So, we did our experiments at Brookhaven National Lab on Long Island even though I was at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Over a school break, so particularly in the summer, we’d go out there as a research team. So, you have the accelerator. We were doing elementary particle research on protons. The proton comes out of the accelerator and then it goes to the scintillation counter so we can take measurements on it: how fast it’s going, like angles it’s coming out at, and so on. That’s all great information for determining what the guts of a proton was back then. But the professor was trying to defy the quark theory in favor of having some three different central charges that were concentric and that was disproven, so I did not go down in history.

Christine: Ah! Okay. I recognize many of the words that you said from high school. Don’t really understand what you just explained to me, but I’m happy that you tried to break it down. Thank you. [Laughs.]

Meredith: So sorry about that. I usually try to make sure people understand, but I think the gist of that story was that I didn’t get to go down in history.

Christine: Yeah, yeah, no I [laughs] got that much. Well, hey! There’s still time. Maybe not in engineering, but in the arts world.

Meredith: [Laughs.]

Christine: Okay, so, you went for a Master’s in molecular engineering. Was that because of the work in the lab or…? I know you said you didn’t know what you wanted to do, but, I mean, maybe you could’ve become a teacher, right? Or you could have done a Master’s in another kind of engineering?

Meredith: Well…

Christine: Or not really?

Meredith: No, I probably could have, but when I was working at Brookhaven, I saw how isolated we were, you know, physically and socially. People just camped out at this lab and I felt like if I continued in physics, I wouldn’t have any life. You know, I wanted to live in an urban area and, you know, raise kids and have access to the arts and that just didn’t seem like the life to me. So, I was looking for something else, but, you know, along the way, I graduated, and I couldn’t get the job. I don’t think there’s that kind of prejudice anymore. I think you can get an engineering job with a physics degree now, but you couldn’t back then. And so, having, you know, a great senior thesis project and, you know, high GPA and all that…That didn’t matter. It would have been better to have neither of those and have the engineering degree. So, I was like, “Well, it will take less time to get a Master’s than another Bachelor’s. So, I will…do that.”

Christine: Yeah, so, do you think that the intention at that time with the physics undergrad was then to go for a PhD program in physics or something else? Like, not for you, but why…Do you have any idea why that program would have been designed?

Meredith: Oh, the undergraduate program I was in?

Christine: Mhm. Yes.

Meredith: Michigan, at the time, was the third-top physics school in the country and the undergraduate program was very small. And so, we took classes… Starting junior year, all our classes were combined with the graduate students. So, I don’t know if the undergraduate program had any raison d’etre other than to provide a physics degree in a very large state university. But, the graduate program was definitely geared toward academics and we had people from all over the world in the program. It was bigger than the undergraduate program.

That’s the end of the excerpt! Listen to the full episode here:

More at BadassLadyFolk.com.

‘Believe the Hype’ Column: Rest in Peace, Richard Lewis; New Bushwick Foodtown; Gowanus Migrant Shelter

Christine Stoddard on March 6, 2024

By Christine Stoddard | cstoddard@queensledger.com

Richard Lewis

Less than a month after the premiere of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Season 12, comedian Richard Lewis passed away. On the show, he plays Larry David’s best friend, but that was no fiction: The two grew up together in New York City’s comedy scene and were lifelong friends. They were even born in the same hospital—the now-defunct Brooklyn Jewish Hospital and Medical Center of Crown Heights—in 1947. Though Lewis was raised in Englewood, NJ, he brought a Brooklynite’s sensibilities to his stand-up and acting. I was recently reminded of his role as Prince John in my childhood favorite Men in Tights (1993):

Prince John: Such an unusual name, “Latrine.” How did your family come by it?

Latrine: We changed it in the 9th century.

Prince John: You mean you changed it TO “Latrine”?

Latrine: Yeah. Used to be “Sh*thouse.”

Prince John: It’s a good change. That’s a good change.

May his memory be a blessing.

New Bushwick Foodtown

There’s a big, beautiful Foodtown in Bushwick and I’ve got the photos to prove it. The supermarket, located at 54 A Noll St., boasts bright lighting, the air of cleanliness, and a wealth of prepared food, including a hot food bar. This was my neighborhood for a year not too long ago and, let me tell you, this Foodtown would’ve been convenient then. My only complaint was that there were only three egg bagels on Friday at 5 p.m., but I guess you snooze, you lose.

Gowanus Migrant Shelter

In my reporting for this column and stories you may have seen already and more to come, I have been outside of the migrant shelters at 47 Hall St. in Clinton Hill and Floyd Bennett Field in Marine Park. I also visited the outside of the illegally run migrant “fauxtel”—that’s “faux hotel,” in case you didn’t get it—at Sarr’s Wholesale Furniture in Richmond Hill. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve bought candy from the same little Ecuadorian girl on the subway. I last saw her selling candy last Saturday, when an 8-year-old should be playing or doing homework. She was so young that making change from a $20 was a task because she is still learning arithmetic. (I felt bad and won’t try such a large bill next time; it was all I had at the time and I wanted to help.) The desperation that asylum seekers feel to flee their countries and start over, especially in the toughest city on the planet, brings tears to my eyes.

The migrant shelter I’m adding to my list for reporting purposes will open in Gowanus. While there has been pushback, including at a town hall meeting that took place on March 4, the city has already hired Bhrags Home Care Corporation. Due to open at 3rd St. and Bond St., the former brewery is slated to accommodate 400 migrant men. The Third Street Block Association has filed a lawsuit against the shelter due to concerns over the number of people and local environmental conditions. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Gowanus Canal is not only “heavily contaminated” but considered a national priority for cleanup. Let’s see what happens.

Eyesore: Composting On the Sidewalk

Christine Stoddard on March 6, 2024

By Christine Stoddard | cstoddard@queensledger.com

Seen on the sidewalk near the Bedford-Nostrand G train stop. Curbside Composting service is currently available to all Brooklyn and Queens residents. Curbside Composting service is year-round, and every week on your recycling day. Send your photos of neighborhood eyesores to news@queensledger.com.

Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblyperson Emily Gallagher Honor Women of Distinction Luncheon at Wythe Hotel

Christine Stoddard on March 6, 2024

By Christine Stoddard | cstoddard@queensledger.com

Senator Salazar and Assemblyperson Emily Gallagher honor six Brooklyn women for community activism and leadership.

A group shot of Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblyperson Emily Gallagher with the honorees. Photo by Christine Stoddard.

On March 2, New York Senator Julia Salazar (District 18) and Assemblyperson Emily Gallagher (Assembly District 50) honored six women with records of community service and ties to Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, and East New York. These “women of distinction” included Trina Rose Cutugno, Vivian Legions, Lina Lee, Dana Rachlin, Lauren Comito, Hannah Anousheh, and Tami Green. The honorees joined Senator Salazer and Assemblyperson Gallagher with their colleagues and loved ones in an intimate gathering for remarks and light refreshments. The event was scheduled to coincide with Women’s History Month.

Here is a bit about each of these accomplished local women:

In addition to being an artist and filmmaker, Trina Rose Cutugno is a Greenpoint advocate for home care, accessible and affordable housing, disability inclusion, and health justice.

Vivian Legions is a longtime resident of Berry St.-South 9th St. Houses (NYCHA) in Williamsburg and President of the Tenant Association. She advocates for the residents she represents by organizing community events, distributing food and PPE during the pandemic, and fighting for quality-of-life improvements.

Lina Lee is the co-founder and executive director of Communities Resist, a legal services organization that represents the most vulnerable tenants and helps to organize tenant associations. She is a longtime tenant lawyer.

Gallagher and Salazer with honoree Dana Rachlin. Photo by Christine Stoddard.

Dana Rachlin is the co-founder of We Build The Block, which supports communities facing over-policing, mass incarceration, and gun violence, as well as numerous other innovative public safety, community and civic programs over the years.

Lauren Comito is currently the branch manager at the Leonard Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) in Williamsburg and is the executive director of Urban Librarians Unite (ULU), a library workers’ advocacy organization.

Hannah Anousheh helped found the East New York Community Land Trust, an organization dedicated to preserving affordability for future generations and providing a vehicle to create generational wealth, and serves as its Campaigns Director.

Tami Green is a community liaison and fitness professional with a passion for community, public safety, and quality of life. She gained attention for claiming an abandoned house in East New York and fighting investors for possession in a years-long struggle.

 

Illustration: Turkish Delights

Christine Stoddard on March 6, 2024

By Christine Stoddard | cstoddard@queensledger.com

Illustration by Christine Stoddard

The above illustration was published with the following blurb in the March 7, 2024 print edition:

In this week’s issue, we have a feature on the Turkish restaurants in South Brooklyn. Do you want the regional and ethnic cuisine of your neighborhood featured in the newspaper? Do you have a favorite chef? Dish? Or do you know a restaurant owner with a fascinating story to tell? Send your tips, nominations, and love letters to editor Christine Stoddard cstoddard@queensledger.com for consideration. Essays about specific dining experiences will also be considered.

‘Believe the Hype’ Column: An Ode to FiveMyles Gallery

Christine Stoddard on February 28, 2024

By Christine Stoddard | cstoddard@queensledger.com

New York City, the City of Dreams, the city of magic and momentum. For a creative person, there may be no better place for inspiration or opportunity, with virtually every culture and industry represented. It is also the capital of hustle and ambition. New Yorkers yearn. We strive. Like many transplants, I moved here with a vision for a more exciting and fulfilling creative career and, dare I say it, life overall . I wanted access to experiencing and, in some cases, making art, music, fashion, movies, and media. While I had a few contacts when I first made Brooklyn home, I still had many more people to meet. When it came to really knowing the borough’s movers and shakers, I didn’t know anymore. Networking and making connections is crucial in a city full of millions of enterprising (sometimes pushy) people. One venue that gave me a chance early on was FiveMyles Gallery in Crown Heights.

Madi Dangerously & Arts East New York

Some things happened for me quickly after I moved here in mid-2016. Curator Madi Dangerously, aka Mariama Rafetna Primus, who is a local mover and shaker, invited me to participate in a group show. This was 2017 and the idea was a one-night event dedicated to the divine feminine. Not too long after that, Madi also generously invited me to participate in an exhibition on gentrification at the now-defunct Arts East New York, founded by Catherine Green. It seems that the gallery was another casualty of the pandemic. May another contemporary art space replace it. East New York deserves to have that kind of resource and space for expression. Every neighborhood does. But back to Madi: She was bringing together newcomers and long-timers alike to have visual and performance art conversations about migration and real estate. It was a welcome opportunity for someone like me who genuinely wanted to contribute to the community  that was already established here. Not all of us want a Starbucks on every corner. Thank you, Madi, for seeing that in me.

Hanne Tierney & Marine Cornuet

Insert snowball effect. By early 2018, I had my own show at FiveMyles. To that, I should say thank you to Hanne Tierney. Hanne is the founder of FiveMyles, which she opened 25 years ago. The place was incorporated as a non-profit in 1999, championing experimental and largely non-Western work or work by otherwise under-represented artists. At the time that I met Hanne, her second-in-command was Marine Cornuet, a French poet who has since moved on to a career in literary publishing. Marine was really my main point of contact, though I was immediately taken by Hanne’s warmth and passion for the arts in Central and East Brooklyn. She is a friendly, likable person, which is the type of personality more gallery owners should consider cultivating and projecting. Kindness is a skill.

Lady Pandora

My first show at FiveMyles was a one-night affair called “Lady Pandora,” and featured a video art installation, live poetry performances, and framed photos hung pretty traditionally on the wall. I directed the night, which was about feminine power and the tension between the magic and struggles of womanhood. All of the videos and photos were ones I had created; the line-up of poets, which included myself, featured mostly women who appeared in the videos and photos. They were my collaborators and the vast majority of them lived in Brooklyn, from Greenpoint to Fort Greene. One message present in much of the work is that we conjure spells because of our challenges as women. We aim to reclaim our power. The gallery was packed and I met neighbors and had conversations that still inspire me.

Since then, I have had two smaller events at FiveMyles–screenings of my film Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares and video poems from my project Belladonna Magic. The first took place last fall; the other took place this month. Maybe these events were smaller because I did not promote them as hard as “Lady Pandora,” but I suspect the attendance had more to do with the state of cultural institutions in New York City. People go out less often. Virtual events are more common. We have lost some of the synchronicity and thrilling chaos of a time before ubiquitous screens and livestreaming. What a difference a few years can make. Ironically, my reach is larger than it was before the pandemic. Social media as an arts platform has created new types of exposure and attracted new fans. Brooklyn Magazine named me one of its Top 50 Most Fascinating People in 2023. They came to that conclusion because of an online survey that spread via social media. Still, I thank FiveMyles for the in-person space to meet fans in real life and make face-to-face connections. I feel comfortable speaking for many people when I say Crown Heights will be a different place when FiveMyles closes in June. Yes, I purposely buried the lede. To quote Ruby Lindsey, who replaced Marine at FiveMyles, “Sometimes it’s just time.”

Find out more at FiveMyles.org.

Photos are from the columnist’s personal archives. 

 

Francophone Migrants Face Unique Challenges

Christine Stoddard on February 28, 2024

By Christine Stoddard | cstoddard@queensledger.com

French-speaking migrants from Africa stand outside of a shelter for asylum seekers at 47 Hall Street in Clinton Hill. In our on-the-street conversations, several men told me that they feel especially isolated as Francophones. As they have experienced, most assistance for recent migrants is only available in Spanish, and New Yorkers they meet in daily street life are unlikely to speak French. A common refrain I heard was, “Americans don’t speak French.” More than one man told me that I was the first French-speaking American they had met.

Bahei, age 34, from Senegal.

 

 

Seydinal, age 25, and Anndiaye, age 27, both from Senegal.

Bikes and shopping carts parked outside the shelter.

Migrants may live in the shelter for 30 days–a reduction from the initial 60 days that the City of New York granted. After that, they are discharged (sometimes in the middleof the night) and must find accommodations elsewhere. With no other place to go, many migrants live on the street after they have been discharged.

Camera Eye: A Visual Exploration of Glass Bottle Beach

Christine Stoddard on February 28, 2024

By Christine Stoddard | cstoddard@queensledger.com

Photo by Christine Stoddard.

File photos c. 2021 of Glass Bottle Beach at Dead Horse Bay in Gateway National Recreation Area, on the outskirts of the Marine Park neighborhood. The site has been closed since 2020 due to hazardous levels of radioactivity. From 1948 into the mid-1950s, it was a landfill with a mound elevation of 25 feet. Now eroding, the shoreline features a patchwork of broken bottles, ceramics, metal objects, clothing, and a mix of random household and industrial items.

Photo by Christine Stoddard.

Photo by Christine Stoddard.

Photo by Christine Stoddard.

Photo by Christine Stoddard.

Photo by Christine Stoddard.

CUNY Declares Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Lunar New Year and Diwali Official Holidays

Brooklyn Star on February 22, 2024

Following a vote by the CUNY Board of Trustees, CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez today announced that CUNY will become one of the first universities in the nation to designate Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Lunar New Year and Diwali as holidays on the official school calendar. The move aligns CUNY with public schools across New York City for the first time.

Illustration by Christine Stoddard.

During the Spring 2025 semester, CUNY will not hold classes on January 29, 2025, in honor of Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar calendar, an important cultural holiday for many Asian communities. Nor will classes be held on March 31, 2025, for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting. Likewise, classes will not be held on June 5, 2025, for Eid al-Adha, known as the Feast of Sacrifice, which falls during the summer session, or on October 20, 2025, for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

“With this vote, the Board of Trustees has taken an important step to advance diversity, equity and inclusion at CUNY,” said CUNY Board of Trustees Chairperson William C. Thompson Jr. “For an institution like ours, whose students observe many faiths and mirror the great diversity of our city, we are pleased to assure them the freedom and flexibility to celebrate with their families and communities during these important days of observance.”

“As one of the largest and most diverse public universities in the country, CUNY has a responsibility to represent and reflect its diverse religions and cultures,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “Students who observe Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Lunar New Year or Diwali will be able to honor those traditions without worrying about their schoolwork. I’m proud to see CUNY advance our commitment to inclusivity.” 

“I am glad to see our University ensure students do not have to decide between attending their classes and observing their traditional holidays,” said Trustee Salimatou Doumbouya, chairperson of the CUNY University Student Senate (USS). “This decision represents the tireless advocacy of CUNY student leaders. As the student trustee on CUNY’s Board, I voted and advocated for these changes. I am proud that our university is committed to celebrating the rich diversity of our students, faculty and administration. This decision to formally recognize Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Lunar New Year and Diwali is a huge step towards equity. It’s a historic win!”

The announcement brings CUNY in alignment with New York State law and New York City Public Schools. CUNY is closed for widely observed federal holidays such as Christmas and Juneteenth. In addition, CUNY’s 25 colleges do not hold classes during Passover, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The Brooklyn Downtown Star/Greenpoint Star reached out to CUNY campuses in Brooklyn for a response. Emailed statements from the campuses that replied are as follows:

Russell K. Hotzler, President, New York City College of Technology, wrote: “We join in commending the Chancellor’s February 14 announcement, following a vote by the CUNY Board of Trustees, that CUNY will become one of the first universities in the nation to designate Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Lunar New Year and Diwali as holidays on the official school calendar.

The announcement and CUNY’s alignment with New York State law and New York City Public Schools further affirms and strengthens City Tech’s long-standing commitment to equity and inclusion among our richly diverse College community representing abundant religious and faith traditions. City Tech is proud of the diversity reflected in our student body, faculty and staff, and the College attempts to go beyond what is mandated by law to promote an atmosphere conducive to mutual respect in a harmonious learning and working environment.”

Dr. Suri Duitch, Interim President, Kingsborough Community College, wrote: “As an institution supporting students from many places and faiths, I’m glad that we can recognize and celebrate their diversity. By designating Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Lunar New Year and Diwali as holidays on the academic calendar, we are taking a significant step toward creating an even more inclusive campus environment. Students will have the opportunity to explore different traditions, histories and values, and foster a greater appreciation for our diversity. I want Kingsborough students to be seen, heard and valued; this designation is an important step forward for us in making that happen.”

Brooklyn College President Michelle J. Anderson wrote: “Over many years, our Student Government advocated strongly for this change. I am proud to have taken their lead and advocated for it as well. Designating Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Lunar New Year, and Diwali as official holidays throughout CUNY—like Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Christmas—speaks to the pride that we have in serving our tremendously diverse students, staff, and faculty. Congratulations to all!”

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