INSIDE
Political theater: In the new musical, “No Brainer, or
the Solution to Parasites,” a social worker faces off
against a Trumpian villain who tells people of color to
“go back where they came from!” Jonathan Slaff
Freedom of leech
Musical parasite play spreads through Brooklyn
By Rose Adams This show is gonna be huge!
An extravagant musical theater
piece starring a city worker facing
off against a deranged, Trump-like
villain will take over Brooklyn’s streets
this summer, providing the public with
family-friendly — albeit dark — songs
and comedy. “No Brainer, or the Solution
to Parasites,” which will parade through
Coney Island, Sunset Park, and Bushwick
this month, features a blond businessman
who sips a stew made from the world’s
maladies in his quest for world domination.
After the crazed villain becomes
king, a New York City social worker
must defeat him to restore goodness to
the world.
The musical mixes dark themes with
fun, juvenile asides, said its creator.
“This year’s production is a combination
of Disney and a horror movie,”
said Crystal Field, who wrote the 75-minute
musical and co-founded Theater for
the New City, the Manhattan theater
company behind the production.
“No Brainer” marks the company’s
43rd annual traveling production. Every
summer, the troupe sends its transportable
stage to more than a dozen of the
city’s parks and roads, complete with
dazzling sets, a crew of up to 50 people,
and life-sized puppets — along with some
not-so-subtle political themes designed to
empower viewers, according to Field.
“We tell them they’re not alone,” she
said. “You have civic power, and you
have the power to organize.”
The troupe’s productions often star
middle-class city workers who defeat
capitalist supervillains. Many shows
have a clear message: instructing viewers
to vote, or telling undocumented audience
members what to do if ICE agents
knock on their door, Field said, and the
shows have happy endings.
“The neighborhood always wins,”
said Field.
However, “No Brainer” takes a darker
turn than most of the troupe’s other
productions. Rather than ending with
a triumphant hero and a happy song, it
closes just as the good guys prepare to
protest the fascist villain. According to
Field, the show’s more somber, uncertain
finale reflects the country’s tumultuous
political climate.
“We are living in a terrible, terrible
time,” she said. “People feel powerless.”
Nevertheless, the play tries to keep
things light and jovial with a range of
fun Bossa Nova, hip-hop, and classical
choir music performed by five live musicians
— and audiences have responded
positively. During its first performance
in the Bronx, more than 100 spectators
met the show with a hearty round of
applause, Field said.
“They blew us kisses,” she said.
“No Brainer, or the Solution to
Parasites” at the Coney Island Boardwalk
(at the Boardwalk and W. 10th Street in
Coney Island, www.theaterforthenewcity).
Aug. 16 at 6:30 p.m. Free.
At Maria Hernandez Park
(Knickerbocker Avenue and Starr Street in
Bushwick). Aug. 17 at 2 p.m.
At Sunset Park (at Sixth Avenue and
44th Street in Sunset Park). Aug. 24 at 2
p.m. Free.
Your entertainment
guide Page 41
Police Blotter ..........................8
Editorial .................................30
Letters ..................................... 31
Standing O ............................36
Brownstoner ........................40
HOW TO REACH US
COURIER L 2 IFE, AUG. 9-15, 2019
BY ROSE ADAMS
Brooklyn remains infested
by more beady-eyed rodents
than any other borough
in the city — a dubious distinction
the borough’s held
for the second year running,
according to a newly released
study .
Brooklynites logged more
than 6,500 rat complaints
to the city’s 311 complaint
hotline in 2018, dwarfi ng
runner-up Manhattan’s 4,300
complaints, according to the
report by the apartment listing
website, RentHop .
Prospect Heights remains
the worst neighborhood for
rat sightings anywhere in the
city, with a yearly average
of 530 calls per square mile.
Residents in several north
Brooklyn neighborhoods —
including Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Crown Heights, Clinton
Hill, and Bushwick — also
topped the charts for rodent
complaints with hundreds of
reports.
Southern Brooklyn has
proven less popular among
Kings County cheese eaters
compared to northern Brooklyn
neighborhoods, although
complaints in Bay Ridge doubled
from 2017 to 2018, the
study revealed.
And for every rodent you
see, there are thousands you
don’t, according to RentHop,
which claimed the high number
of rodent sightings in
New York City point to the existence
of an unseen vermin
“An estimate of about
250,000 to millions of rats
lived in the city in 2017,” the
report said. “To put these
numbers into perspective,
New York City’s rats are
equal to approximately 20
percent of the human population.”
Kings County’s rat population
did diminish between
2017 and 2018, with residents
RAT RACE: A new study revealed that Brooklynites reported more rat sightings than any other borough,
despite an overall drop in complaints. Getty Images
reporting less rat sightings
year-over-year. In Prospect
Heights, locals made half as
many 311 complaints compared
to 2017, and many southern
Brooklyn neighborhoods
boasted fewer than 100 sightings,
with only 12 complaints
fi led in Gravesend last year,
and 30 fi led in Midwood.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $32
million assault on rats in
2017, which implemented ratproof
garbage cans and fi lled
rat burrows with dry ice, may
account for last year’s dwindling
rodent stats.
But 2019 has already seen
a spike in the number of rat
sightings, the New York
Times reported in May. Gentrifi
cation, tourism, and
milder winters have helped
bolster the rat population,
the article claimed.
While 311 complaints are
a useful way to gauge the rat
problem, they are not a foolproof
way to measure the rodent
population.
According to a 2016 study
of 311 calls in New York City,
neighborhoods with high
numbers of renters, buildings
with more than 10 units, and
unmarried heads of household
tend to call the hotline
less frequently, Governing
Magazine reported .
Rats!
kingdom.
BROOKLYN GRAPHIC (ISSN 0740-2260) Copyright © 2019 by the Brooklyn Courier Life LLC is published weekly by Brooklyn Courier Life LLC, One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. 52 times a year. Business and
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KING OF THE RATS!
Study shows that Brooklyn is city’s most rodent-infected borough
To put these numbers
into perspective, New
York City’s rats are equal
to approximately 20
percent of the human
population.
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