A Round of Applause for Red Hook

The more than 6,300 residents in the 2,878 apartments of the Red Hook Houses continue to live through quite an ordeal, even after the nightmare of weeks without power, heat, and water has finally come to an end. Wednesday was our first Housing Court day since the storm, and what could have been a tense, hectic day turned out to be one of the calmest in recent memory. Before he began hearing cases, Judge Alex Calabrese asked all of the residents of the Red Hook Houses in the courtroom to stand up and be recognized for their patience, courage, and all-around amazing attitude in the face of such a difficult experience, and asked the court personnel and other staff to give them a round of applause. Touched, one tenant in the room expressed her thanks to the Judge, staff at the Justice Center, and AmeriCorps members for their consistent presence in the neighborhood in the weeks following the storm and their continued service to the neighborhood, and followed with another round of applause. This brief exchange of gratitude set a positive tone for a day filled with dealing with difficult issues, and was a small but powerful reminder of why community justice works.

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Supporting the Staten Island Youth Justice Center at "Inside/Outside Legislative Theatre" Performance

On June 4th, a group of the Red Hook Youth Court members and staff went to see the "Theater of the Oppressed NYC" performance at the New School. Before attending this event, the youth court members had no idea that anything like this went on! While there, we learned that 12 different legislative laws were changed through something called "Legislative Theatre." The audience members get to be "spect-actors," which is great because the actual audience members got to participate in the play themselves and share their ideas. The performances last night were put on by members of the Staten Island Youth Justice Center (part of the Center for Court Innovation Family). These two plays dealt with real life issues such as getting stopped for not paying your bus fare, arriving late to school and getting sent to the principal's office because of the "zero tolerance policy," getting into fights at school, not knowing one's rights, and being raciall...

Peacemaking in Red Hook

Raymond Deal, Traditional Program Specialist, Shiprock District Court, Navajo Nation and Gloria Benally, Program Coordinator, Navajo Nation, train future Red Hook Peacemakers After an intensely trying period in Red Hook in the weeks following Hurricane Sandy, building, strenghtening, and healing relationships between residents and organizations has become crucial. This past weekend, we took a step towards preparing the neighborhood for the hard work ahead with a two-day workshop with peacemakers from the Navajo Nation for residents we are training to serve as peacemakers here in Red Hook. A new project from the Center for Court Innovation's Tribal Justice Exchange , peacemaking is a traditional Native American approach to justice. While the exact form peacemaking takes varies among tribes, it usually consists of one or more peacemakers—often community elders—who gently guide a conversation involving not only those directly involved in an offense or conflict but family ...

Rent, Repairs, and Rights: A Guide to Housing Court for NYCHA Tenants

Lillian Marshall, Tenant Association President of Red Hook West (left) and Naureen Rashid, Director of Court Operations Dorothy Shields, Tenant Association President of Red Hook East (Left) and Naureen Rashid, Director of Court Operations Hon. Alex Calabrese, Presiding Judge of the Red Hook Community Justice Center Graphic Designer Jenny Kutnow Clara Amenyo from the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP)

Red Hook Justice - Your Community. Your Court.

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