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 Run, run, engine: Jamie Hook will defend the existence of Santa Claus, seen here visiting Marine Park on a day with no snow, during a lecture on Dec. 23.    Photo by Steve Solomonson 
 A worthy Claus 
 Children’s  show  proves  the  existence  of  Saint  Nick 
 YBy Rose Adams es,  Brooklyn,  there  is  a  Santa  
 Claus! 
 A  one-man  theatrical  
 presentation  will  use  philosophical  
 arguments  and  historical  analysis  to  
 convince  skeptical  children  that  Santa  
 Claus  is  coming  to  town.  “Beyond  
 Belief:  A  Philosophical  Proof  of  Santa  
 Claus”  will  drop  down  the  chimney  
 into  Greenpoint’s  Park  Church  Co-op  
 on  Dec.  23  and  dive  into  the  history  
 and  ideology  behind  Christmas.  The  
 lecture aims to restore holiday cheer to  
 Brooklyn’s  non-believers,  and  to  show  
 children that belief is an integral part of  
 the human experience, said its creator.  
 “The first 20 minutes of the show is a  
 deconstruction of all the elements that go  
 into Santa Claus,” explained Jamie Hook,  
 a  Greenpoint  filmmaker  and  theater  
 producer. “It helps us understand why we  
 believe in anything.”  
 The 90-minute SLED Talk  includes a  
 slideshow outlining the holiday’s history,  
 an  extravagant  light  display,  and  a  
 discussion with young audience members  
 that brings the beloved Christmas icon to  
 life, Hook said.  
 “We establish a unitarian version of  
 Santa Claus that works for everyone,” he  
 said, adding that most children leave the  
 presentation convinced that some version  
 of Santa exists. 
 Hook has led the show five times now,  
 first writing it after seeing how dejected  
 his friend’s son became after a classmate,  
 and later his father, told him that Santa  
 wasn’t real. 
 “That  kid  spiraled  into  a  holiday  
 season depression,” Hook said.  
 The boy’s dispirited Christmas season  
 inspired  Hook  to  devise  an  explanation  
 of Santa’s existence that hinges on a few  
 basic  philosophical  proofs  often  used  to  
 prove the existence of God. Hook argues,  
 for  example,  that while people  never  see  
 Santa planting his gifts, they can see his  
 charitable and jolly traits reflected around  
 the world, and that the age-old Christmas  
 story  is  rooted  in  true  historical  events  
 and traditions.  
 “Because all this stuff exists, it has to  
 point  to  something  more  profound  than  
 your  parents  buying  you  presents  and  
 putting them under the tree,” he said.  
 More  convincing,  though,  are  the  
 children’s discussions about Santa during  
 the  show, which  help  fill  in  each  others’  
 doubts  about  the  jolly old elf. According  
 to Hook, the youngest attendees often  
 re-convince their older siblings that Santa  
 Claus is real. 
 “I’ve often had it that older siblings  
 hear  their  younger  brothers  and  sisters  
 profess this deep belief … A majority  
 tend to be persuaded back into believing,”  
 he said.  
 Hook is offering his simple phrases  
 to kids from 7 to 92. Tiny tots may not  
 be  willing  to  sit  still,  but  the  whole  
 family might find their eyes all a-glow,  
 he said.  
 “It’s actually really fun for parents  
 because  it  brings  us  back  to  this  space  
 where we ask ourselves,  ‘Why do we do  
 this?’ ” said Hook. 
 “Beyond Belief: A Philosophical Proof  
 of  Santa  Claus”  at  The  Park  Church  
 Co-op  129  Russell  St.  between  Nassau  
 and  Driggs  Avenues  in  Greenpoint,  
 (917)  426–1596,  www.parkchurchcoop. 
 org. Dec. 23 at 7:30 pm. $15 suggested  
 donation. 
 Your entertainment 
 guide Page 45 
 Police Blotter ..........................8 
 NYC Works .............................29 
 Letters .................................... 39 
 Standing O ............................42 
 HOW TO REACH US 
 COURIER L 4     IFE, DEC. 13-19, 2019 
 BATTLE OF THE BOARDWALK 
 Coney business owners rally to stave off massive rent hike 
 BY ROSE ADAMS 
 Protesters  took  to  the  
 steps  of  City  Hall  on  Thursday  
 to protest massive rent  
 hikes along the Coney Island  
 boardwalk, which threaten to  
 shut down local mom and pop  
 shops across the People’s Playground, 
  according to one business  
 owner.  
 “I  would  have  to  close,”  
 said Dianna Carlin, the  
 owner  of  Lola  Star  Boutique  
 who says she faces a nearly  
 500-percent rent increase. “I  
 have no choice. I don’t know  
 any business that could pay  
 that much.”  
 Six  Riegelmann  Boardwalk  
 businesses —  including  
 85-year-old Ruby’s Bar and  
 Grill and 57-year-old Paul’s  
 Daughter — have until Dec. 31  
 to negotiate the proposed rent  
 hikes, which will go into effect  
 on Jan. 1.  
 According  to  Carlin,  none  
 of  the  businesses  have  yet  
 reached  an  agreement  with  
 Zamperla, the Italian company  
 that operates the amusement  
 park and the surrounding  
 boardwalk on behalf of the  
 city.  
 The rally, organized by  
 Carlin’s  small  business  advocacy  
 group,  Save  Coney  Island, 
  drew over a dozen colorful  
 protesters — including  
 famed sword swallower the  
 Great Fredini, a pageant winner  
 on stilts, and several local  
 mavens — all of whom  
 accused Zamperla of threatening  
 the heart of the People’s  
 Playground. 
 “Small  businesses  on  the  
 boardwalk  are  family,”  said  
 Coney Island native Seth Bogdanove. 
  “I remember after Superstorm 
  Sandy, Tom’s, the  
 newcomer on the boardwalk,  
 fed everyone who helped in  
 the restoration efforts. A large  
 business wouldn’t do that.” 
 Protesters  also  lambasted  
 the company for allegedly  
 pocketing  10-percent  of  each  
 tenant’s profi ts every month —  
 SPEAKING OUT: Laura Lee Anderson (center) and more than a dozen other protesters slammed the rent hikes  
 that several boardwalk businesses are facing.   Photo by Rose Adams 
 and for forcing tenants to sign  
 non-disclosure agreements.  
 “It’s one thing for private  
 landlords to have non-disclosure  
 agreements,  but  it’s  another  
 thing when the city and  
 the City Council issues nondisclosure  
 agreements,”  said  
 Norman Siegal, a civil rights  
 lawyer. “What do you have to  
 hide?” 
 Carlin — who said she refused  
 to sign a confi dentiality  
 agreement or give over her  
 profi ts  when  she  signed  her  
 lease in 2011 — was the only  
 affected business owner to attend  
 the rally.  
 According to Siegal, others  
 refused to show out of fear  
 of retaliation — although one  
 business owner, who spoke on  
 the condition of anonymity to  
 freely discuss ongoing negotiations, 
  refuted that claim. 
 “I  don’t  fear  retaliation.  I  
 just don’t think it’s in my best  
 interest, and I want to get the  
 best deal I can,” said the business  
 owner, who claimed that  
 the rent increases are between  
 25-percent and 75-percent —  
 not the fi ve-fold increase that  
 Carlin cited. 
 The fi ght to “save” the Coney  
 Island boardwalk dates  
 back to 2009, when the city rezoned  
 seven acres of People’s  
 Playground as an amusement  
 district, which prevented  
 then-owner  Joseph  Sitt  from  
 turning the park into condos  
 or hotels. Later that  
 year,  former  Mayor  Michael  
 Bloomberg’s  administration  
 purchased the lot for nearly  
 $100  million  and  awarded  
 the maintenance rights to  
 Zamperla.  The  company  continued  
 to spread its infl uence  
 over  Coney  Island  when  the  
 city gave Zamperla a 15-year  
 lease for the Stillwell Avenue  
 subway station earlier this  
 year,  which  Zamperla  plans  
 to renovate and develop into a  
 shopping hub. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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