(718) 260–2500 Brooklyn Paper’s essential guide to the Borough of Kings November 15–21, 2019
Animals at work: Kensington cartoonist John Patrick Green will give a drawing demonstration at the Brooklyn Museum’s Children’s Book Fair on Nov. 23.
that run a construction company. John Patrick Green, color by Cat Caro
Critically Acclaimed Wine List
Parties welcome for all occasions
Special 3 Course Dinner Menu $2995 pp
Music : Thurs. - Sun.
THANKSGIVING
1464 86th Street (between 14th & 15th Ave.)
718-236-9883
Established 1971
Big brew
It is no longer pint-sized!
The Coney Island Brewery finally opened its
vastly expanded taproom last week. The opening
came about six months after it was originally
planned, but the lengthy
approvals process was
worth it for the fantastic
final result, said the
spot’s head brewer.
“Some of it was hairpullingly
frustrating,
but we’re really excited
to have it finished,” said
Matt McCall.
The original nano-location
could only hold 50 customers — and that
was a tight fit, said McCall. The new space can
hold 270 inside, plus plenty more outside during
good weather.
The renovated space has two bars, with 12 taps
at one and 10 taps at the other. There are plenty
of tables for seating, a drinking rail that stretches
across the walls, plenty of television, and enough
empty space for a game of cornhole.
Most importantly, said McCall, the expanded
space has both men and women’s restrooms, instead
of the single toilet it had before, which could
get a lengthy line during special events.
The brewery still has some unfinished business
— a full kitchen should be ready by the
end of the winter, and it plans to have a dedicated
space for live music by the time summer
crowds return to the beach.
Visit the Coney Island Brewery 1904 Surf
Ave. at W. 17th Street in Coney Island, (718)
996–0019, www.coneyislandbeer.com. Open
Sun-Thu; noon–10 p.m.; Fri, Sat, noon–midnight.
— Bill Roundy
JOIN US FOR OUR
EXHIBIT
ANNUAL TREE LIGHTNING
WED. DEC. 4TH @7PM
BEER
Take a trip through time!
The iconic crimson subway cars that once dominated
the subway system first launched 60 years
ago, and the New York City Transit Museum is
celebrating the anniversary with a new exhibit.
“Reign of the Redbirds” takes visitors on a trip
through the almost halfcentury
during which the
beloved red-painted subway
cars were synonymous
with New York
City, according to the
museum’s curator.
“People have a very
strong affection for the
Redbirds,” said Jodi Shapiro.
“To have something
like this in your life for 40 or so years, they are
sort of like an old friend.”
“Redbirds” is the nickname for nine different
models of subway car that were easily identified
by their bright red paint. The boxy trains
were first introduced in 1959, shortly after New
York City’s three rail companies unified under
the New York City Transit Authority.
One surprising fact about the Redbirds: they
were not always red! When the fleet launched,
the trains were painted blue, and they were —
unsurprisingly — known as Bluebirds. The blue
subway cars ferried riders to Flushing Meadows-
Corona Park for the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens,
and became well known because of that event.
In 1984, the entire fleet was painted red, and
the Redbird name was retroactively applied to the
train models. Redbirds were eventually phased
out in the late ’90s by the New Technology Trains,
the first to feature pre-recorded voices announcing
subway stops. Redbirds finally stopped riding
the rails in 2003, but they have not entirely
vanished, said Shapiro. Several are preserved
at museums, while others were hauled into the
ocean and scattered along the Eastern seaboard,
to serve as makeshift coral reefs.
“Fish really dig the Redbird reefs,” Shapiro
said. “Other types of the subway cars that were
reefed did not last as long as the Redbirds.”
The exhibit features photographs of the trains
throughout the decades – including the graffiticovered
1970s, the refurbishment of the 1980s,
and their new home under the sea. The museum
also has several preserved Redbirds that visitors
can step aboard while learning about the cars’
lengthy history.
“The Reign of the Redbirds” at New York
Transit Museum in Downtown Brooklyn 99
Schermerhorn St. at Boerum Place Downtown,
www.nytransitmuseum.org, (718) 694–1600.
Open Tue–Fri, 10 am–4 pm; Sat–Sun, 11 am–5
pm through Sept. 13, 2020. $10.
— Jessica Parks
By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
They’re clawing their way to the top!
A Kensington author and illustrator
will show off his drawing skills and
his comic books about adorable animals
at the Brooklyn Children’s Book Fair, happening
at the Brooklyn Museum on Nov.
23. John Patrick Green will host the final
event of the book festival, demonstrating
how he draws the characters in his book
series “Kitten Construction Company” —
a group of kitty construction workers who
get no respect from their human counterparts
because they are just too cute, the
author said.
“These kittens want this job, but no one
will take them seriously because they’re so
adorable,” Green said.
The felines’ struggle to be taken seriously
resonates with children who struggle
to be taken seriously, as well as with
adults who face patronizing or sexist
adversity in the workplace — a sort of
#meowtoo moment.
“A child might feel like ‘I’ve legitimately
accomplished a thing,’ and the only response
they’ll get from an adult or a teacher, is, ‘Oh
you’re so adorable, how precious,’ ” he said.
“For adults — and I was completely conscious
of this — it’s a metaphor for sexism
in the workplace.”
The second book in the Kitten Construction
Company series, subtitled “A Bridge
Too Fur,” debuted in October, and features
the industrious fur balls teaming up with a
company of canine constructors.
At the festival, which will feature about
40 kids’ book creators, Green will sell and
sign copies of both books in the series, as
well as an earlier book about another animal
performing human jobs. His 2016 book
“Hippopotamister” follows a hippopotamus
that flees the zoo and tries to live among
humans by trying out different jobs, including
a construction worker, a hair stylist,
and a sous chef.
Early next year, Green plans to fur-ther
expand his empire of employed animal books
with the comic “InvestiGators,” about crimefighting,
vest-wearing alligators. He has plans
to create several sequels to the InvestiGators
book, and for a follow up to “Hippopotamister”
in the coming years.
Green, who has been drawing comics
since he was a child, says that he loves having
the opportunity to amuse people with
his drawings.
“I get to just sit at home and draw comics
and think of things that make me laugh
— and if I’m lucky, other people will laugh
at me too,” he said.
John Patrick Green at the Brooklyn Children’s
Book Fair at the Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Pkwy. at Washington Avenue
in Prospect Heights, (718) 638–5000,
www.brooklynmuseum.org. Nov. 23,
11:30 am–4 pm. Free.
Redbird love
Just kitten Kensington cartoonist brings his tail of cute kitties to book fair
Photo by Kevin Duggan
Hard hats, hard cats: Green has written
a two-book series about kittens
Photo by Jessica Parks
Photo by Caroline Ourso
/www.coneyislandbeer.com
/www.nytransitmuseum.org
/www.brooklynmuseum.org
/www.coneyislandbeer.com
/www.nytransitmuseum.org
/www.brooklynmuseum.org