Red Hook Justice - Your Community. Your Court.

A profile in the New York Times last week touted Red Hook's unique "small-town feel" and distinctive waterfront charms as reasons for a recent real estate boom in the neighborhood.  View of downtown Manhattan from Red Hook  The article quotes longtime resident Frank Galeano, who recalls a community filled with "so many abandoned buildings that he and his friends used them as 'clubhouses,' running extension cords from nearby streetlights" in the 1960s. This vision runs in stark contrast to the Red Hook of today, where a "proudly self-selecting group" drawn to its cobblestone streets, waterfront views, and "off-the-grid ambience" will pay upwards of $1 million for the few houses that come onto the market. Click here to read the full article and see a slideshow of photos of the neighborhood.

Below is a summary of a new community service initiative for teen defendants that are sanctioned to do community service through the Red Hook Community Justice Center. The program is called "Learning through Service" and positively engages teens, while also teaching them the value of restorative justice, volunteerism, and serving their communities. Teens are able to fulfill their court mandate while also learning the value of community service. "The first 2 days took place at the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI), located just up the street on Columbia and Degraw St.  BGI is responsible for increasing public access to and use of the Brooklyn waterfront.  This past Saturday, March 12th, an impressive 11 out of the 13 scheduled youth showed up for service.  Even more impressively, the youth were actively engaged throughout the project.     After introducing the idea of restorative justice and reviewi...