Thousands fi ll Brooklyn streets
to honor life of late rapper DMX
BIRDING
Prospect Park than for the
same area in the Adirondacks,”
Hrehowsik said. “You
really get them all funneling
through these areas.”
The birder recommends
looking for wooded areas with
understory growth, because
many birds feed off of the bugs
in shrubs and heaps of leaves
beneath trees.
“Anywhere that looks like
the woods is a really good place
right now,” he said.
COURIER L 22 IFE, APR. 30-MAY 6, 2021
The Brooklyn Bird Club
also has a handy map for good
spots around the borough.
A walk around Prospect
Park Lake which has a lot of
mature trees harboring insects,
brushy areas, and wet
spots, is a great place to start in
Brooklyn’s Back Yard. Nearby
Lookout Hill also offers a great
vantage point 177 feet above
sea level.
Or head to Bush Terminal
in Sunset Park or Shirley Chisholm
State Park in East New
York. Other coastal hotspots
like Jamaica Bay are busier
during fall and winter.
The best way to start birding
is to just go out and do it, if
possible with a group of fellow
bird watchers, so Hrehowsik.
“Birding is like learning a
language, you can only learn
so much from books and tapes,
you have to immerse yourself,”
he said.
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
The life and music of late
rapper Earl “DMX” Simmons
was celebrated at a memorial
service at Brooklyn’s Barclays
Center on April 24. The event
was closed to the public and
restricted to close friends and
families, but thousands fi lled
the streets outside the Fort
Greene arena to celebrate the
late rapper’s life.
The procession began Saturday
morning in Yonkers,
the birthplace of the hip-hop
icon, who died on April 9 at the
age of 50. A gigantic monster
truck painted with the words
“Long Live DMX” carried the
musician’s bright red coffi n to
the Barclays Center, followed
by thousands of bikers, ATVs,
and luxury cars.
Brandon from Queens was
one of the bikers who participated
in the procession.
“I love it. His death just is
something that just came out
of nowhere. He was somebody
that meant a lot to a whole lot
of people — that’s why we all
came out to show how much
we love him,” Brandon said.
Outside Barclays, people
danced to the music of DMX,
which blared from some vehicles
and motorcycles, bringing
the procession to a stop at
times.
Christine took the day off
to attend the memorial service
outside the Barclays. She
came all the way from Patterson,
New Jersey, to show her
respect to the late rapper, her
all-time favorite.
“It’s a historical moment.
I’m here to celebrate his life,”
she said.
Friends Damian, Sam, and
Jeff from Long Island accompanied
the procession from
Yonkers and agreed that the
turnout was great.
“I think it’s great. I had a lot
of fun. I thank the NYPD for
closing the streets and keeping
us safe,” said Damian. “I
didn’t expect it to be like this,
but it was great. It was an awesome
experience.”
Fans remembered DMX as
an “innovator” of his genre.
“His music was stuff you
could relate to. His music had
longevity and truth,” said Ruff
Ryder member Troy Porter.
“His lyrics spoke to everyone
standing here. He was as
real as they come,” added fan
Angel Pegan.
“I had all of his albums. Every
one of them helped me get
through a terrible time in my
life,” said Mike Richards.
“We can all learn from his
song ‘Stop Being Greedy,'”
Shaniqua Rogers added. “We
all have enough in life.”
With reporting by Lloyd
Mitchell
BY JOE PANTORNO
A silent array of electric
racing cars will descend on
Red Hook this summer, as
the International Automobile
Federation and Formula E announced
on Thursday morning
that the nabe will host a
double-header event of races
for the fourth time since 2017
over the course of July 10 and
11.
Formula E is a single-seater
motorsport championship that
resembles Formula 1 cars, but
they use fully electric motors.
Now in its seventh season, the
fastest-growing motorsport
recently gained World Championship
status by the FIA.
The races will take place
along the streets of Red Hook,
Brooklyn adjacent to the
Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
along the borough’s western
coast where the Manhattan
skyline and Statue of Liberty
provide a stunning backdrop.
New York will be the venue
for Formula E’s 10th and 11th
rounds of a 15-round season —
which was released in full on
Thursday — that has already
held races in Diriyah, Saudi
Arabia and Rome, Italy.
The championships will be
in Valencia, Spain from April
24-25 along with Monaco and
Puebla, Mexico before heading
to the United States.
New York did not host Formula
E last season due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a massive achievement
by all to release the full
calendar for this season,” Formula
E co-founder and chief
championship offi cer, Alberto
Longo, said. “The calendar includes
the most races we’ve
held in one season and shows
our continued commitment to
create a momentum-building
schedule that fans and audiences
across the world will
follow. Four double-header
events in Puebla, New York
City, London, and Berlin are
going to set the scene perfectly
to crown Formula E’s fi rst offi -
cial FIA World Champion.”
While Formula E has an
overwhelmingly international
feel similar to that of Formula
1, there is a heavy American
infl uence to appeal to the
home crowd in Brooklyn.
Two of the 12 teams —
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
and Dragon/Penske Autosport
— are American-owned.
Fans will also see two of
the most legendary names in
motorsports during their debut
seasons in Formula E as
Mercedes and Porsche will
race on American soil for the
fi rst time in the competition.
Love parade
Electric racing event returning to Hook
BROOKLYN
A different zoom
Fans commemorate Earl “DMX” Simmons outside of Barclays Center April 24. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
The Formula E World Championship returns to Red Hook this summer for
the 2021 NYC ePrix. Photo by Dennis Schneidler/USA TODAY Sports
Continued from page 20