Ofer chats with Susan Donoghue, President of the Prospect Park Alliance and the park administrator. At the nonprofit, Sue works closely with the City to help raise 11 million dollars annually and over 50 million dollars in capital funds to improve and operate Brooklyn’s 585 acre park. Seen as Brooklyn’s backyard, Prospect Park was built in 1867 by Central Park’s Frederick Law Olmsted. Much like the rest of Brooklyn, Prospect Park has experienced a rebirth.
Ofer sits down with Steve Hindy, co-founder and co-chairman of Brooklyn Brewery, one of the largest craft beer makers in the United States. Steve and his neighbor founded the company in 1988 following a dream to bring brewing back to Brooklyn. Always a pioneer and a risk-taker, Steve made a number of key decisions that helped make Brooklyn Brewery an international success story.
In the first episode of the new year, Ofer Cohen sits down with Jill Eisenhard, the Founder and Executive Director of the Red Hook Initiative (RHI). Jill has recently announced that she’s stepping down from the non-profit that she founded in Red Hook, Brooklyn, back in 2002. In their conversation, Jill looks back at her work to empower residents of the City's second largest public housing complex in one of Brooklyn's last industrial neighborhoods, which is home to nearly 10,000 residents.
In this episode of HeyBK, Ofer Cohen sits down with New York City Councilmember Brad Lander. Brad’s district spans established neighborhoods including Park Slope and, the once mainly industrial area, Gowanus which is now on the verge of redevelopment. In their conversation, the Councilman talks about his journey as a suburban kid who became fascinated by cities.
Ofer meets with Carlo Scissura, President & CEO of the New York Building Congress. Carlo was recently appointed Chair of the NYC Mayor’s committee in charge of evaluating the plan to fix the crumbling BQE. He has been an advocate and key player during Brooklyn’s redevelopment and construction boom over the last two decades. Born and raised in Bensonhurst and now a resident of Bay Ridge, Carlo is truly rooted in Brooklyn and his career has reflected so.
Ofer talks to César Zuñiga who is running for City Council in the district that covers Sunset Park and Red Hook, two of Brooklyn's most important neighborhoods for future development. The son of Mexican immigrants, César has a background in education and serves as chair of Community Board 7, which voted down the expansion of the Industry City complex along the Sunset Park waterfront after a bitter debate.
Wrapping up the series on the District 33 City Council race, Ofer sits down with Elizabeth Adams, legislative director for the outgoing Council Member, Steve Levin. Elizabeth grew up in a rent stabilized apartment, and affordable housing is central to her platform that local government can do more to help struggling New Yorkers as the city rebuilds.
Ofer kicks off a short series focusing on the City Council race for the 33rd district. The first guest is candidate Toba Potosky, a Brooklyn Heights resident and community activist involved in his own middle income Mitchell Lama complex and public projects from the renewal of Cadman Plaza Park to the controversial plans to fix the crumbling BQE.
HeyBK is back at a time when Brooklyn, along with the rest of NYC, is trying to rebuild all that was lost during the pandemic. This season, Ofer Cohen talks to leaders and political candidates about their vision as the city reopens and rebuilds. In our first episode, Ofer talks to Ray McGuire, the Wall Street executive running for New York City Mayor.
Ofer chats with Susan Donoghue, President of the Prospect Park Alliance and the park administrator. At the nonprofit, Sue works closely with the City to help raise 11 million dollars annually and over 50 million dollars in capital funds to improve and operate Brooklyn’s 585 acre park. Seen as Brooklyn’s backyard, Prospect Park was built in 1867 by Central Park’s Frederick Law Olmsted. Much like the rest of Brooklyn, Prospect Park has experienced a rebirth.
Ofer sits down with Steve Hindy, co-founder and co-chairman of Brooklyn Brewery, one of the largest craft beer makers in the United States. Steve and his neighbor founded the company in 1988 following a dream to bring brewing back to Brooklyn. Always a pioneer and a risk-taker, Steve made a number of key decisions that helped make Brooklyn Brewery an international success story.
In the first episode of the new year, Ofer Cohen sits down with Jill Eisenhard, the Founder and Executive Director of the Red Hook Initiative (RHI). Jill has recently announced that she’s stepping down from the non-profit that she founded in Red Hook, Brooklyn, back in 2002. In their conversation, Jill looks back at her work to empower residents of the City's second largest public housing complex in one of Brooklyn's last industrial neighborhoods, which is home to nearly 10,000 residents.
In this episode of HeyBK, Ofer Cohen sits down with New York City Councilmember Brad Lander. Brad’s district spans established neighborhoods including Park Slope and, the once mainly industrial area, Gowanus which is now on the verge of redevelopment. In their conversation, the Councilman talks about his journey as a suburban kid who became fascinated by cities.
Ofer meets with Carlo Scissura, President & CEO of the New York Building Congress. Carlo was recently appointed Chair of the NYC Mayor’s committee in charge of evaluating the plan to fix the crumbling BQE. He has been an advocate and key player during Brooklyn’s redevelopment and construction boom over the last two decades. Born and raised in Bensonhurst and now a resident of Bay Ridge, Carlo is truly rooted in Brooklyn and his career has reflected so.
Ofer meets with Jonathan Schnapp, founder of the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Gowanus. In 2011, Jonathan and his partner Ashley took a spontaneous trip to the Mirror Lake Shuffleboard Club in Florida and returned home inspired to bring the forgotten sport to Brooklyn. Much sooner than expected, they secured a warehouse space and began fundraising for an idea that, at first, not many people could definitively get behind. Today, people from near and far come to visit and fall in love with the game and the neighborhood.
Ofer sits down with two of the Brooklyn restaurateurs breathing new life into the historic restaurant, Gage & Tollner. The restaurant first opened in Downtown Brooklyn in 1879 and shut its doors in 2004. The 125-year-old Brooklyn institution was known for its landmarked decor and impeccable service. Now, the teams behind Insa, Fort Defiance and The Good Fork are reviving Gage & Tollner while preserving its historic charm. (Photos courtesy of Brooklyn Historical Society and Sean Tice)
In this episode of HeyBK, Ofer sits down with Chad Dickerson, the former CEO of Etsy, a multibillion-dollar online marketplace for handcrafted goods based in DUMBO. Chad left Silicon Valley for the young startup in 2008 and led the company - through many hurtles - to become one of NYC’s greatest Tech success stories.
On this episode of HeyBK, we journey to South Brooklyn to one of the most famous places in the world – Coney Island. Ofer Cohen speaks with Dick Zigun, the “unelected mayor” of Coney Island, a playwright, a circus fanatic, and the creator and leader of the annual Mermaid Parade. Dick has spent decades advocating for this unique pocket of NYC and its great potential which has not come without its own course of challenges and interesting events.
In this episode of HeyBK, Ofer sits down with Susan Feldman, the Artistic Director of St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The program’s trajectory is closely linked with Brooklyn’s resurgence. St. Ann’s relationship with Brooklyn as a place and Real Estate as a business is a great model for activating neighborhoods while supporting the arts. Over 35 years later, and not without a struggle, St Ann’s moved to its permanent, very special home on the DUMBO waterfront.
HeyBK host Ofer Cohen speaks with Jared Della Valle & AJ Pires, the founders of Alloy, LLC, a DUMBO-based development and architecture firm. Jared and AJ explain how meeting through a mutual friend turned into a life-long friendship, successful business, and a true Brooklyn story. Their joint passion and ideas about responsible development, keen architecture, open lines of communication, and love for the neighborhood of DUMBO have played a key role in their accomplishments.
On this episode of HeyBK, Ofer speaks with Andrew Kimball, the CEO of Industry City. Since taking over in 2013, Andrew and his partners transformed the largest industrial complex in NYC into a renowned creativity and innovation hub. Andrew gives us the scoop on what it takes to run such a huge transformation project, how sometimes new opportunities take priority over initial strategic plans, the challenges of managing such a massive space, as well as many of the rewarding moments that come with such a demanding project.
Ofer sits down with Jed Walentas, the real estate developer behind the transformation of DUMBO, one of the most desirable neighborhoods in New York City. In the mid-90’s, Jed became involved in his family business, Two Trees, and spearheaded the transformation of the area. In their conversation, Jed talks about growing up in a grittier NYC where DUMBO was not merely as exciting as it is today, discovering what it meant for his father to “own a neighborhood,” and about his own parenting experience.
