By Tom Kane
Goodbye Rosie … On Wednesday, Nov. 4, Bay Ridge lost another treasure when Rose DeStefano, who would have been 102 in February, passed away. Rose was my neighbor from 1968 when my family bought a house on her block, 88th Street. Rose was a very independent individual who traveled up to church at Visitation every morning for mass. Rose’s funeral mass was at her parish of St. Patrick’s on Monday, Nov. 9. Rose leaves behind a daughter, Marie DeMairo and two sons, Joseph and Thomas. She was also the proud grandmother of nine; great-grandmother of 15 and great-great-grandmother of one. Wow. I think that is amazing, and I think Rose was one of the most remarkable people I have ever met. Goodbye Rosie — you will definitely be missed. New York in Bloom … Congratulations to Michael Bloomberg on winning his third term as the mayor of our fine metropolis. On Monday, Nov. 2, watching the Yankee game (as I’m sure he always does at home all the time), Bloomberg wandered into Bay Ridge to watch the World Series at Pipin’s Pub on Third Avenue. I think he came in for the buffalo wings, which he ordered medium, and the sliced shell steak on garlic toast. After his meal, Mayor Bloomberg, who has been to many different restaurants in Bay Ridge, said to co-owners Stephen Oliver, Anthony Bartholomeo and Paul Pandolfi, “This is my kinda food.� Congrats to Vinny … Vincent Gentile, our incumbent City Councilman from District 43 has another four years to better our community. On Saturday, he was patrolling the Walgreens parking lot and his Greenmarket to cheers, congratulatory hugs and handshakes from his constituents. I would have slept late, considering the election was only last Tuesday, but that’s probably why I’m not an incumbent City Councilman! Bay Ridge Theater Rocks … BrooklynOne Theater’s first musical production, Nunsense: A-Men, was a hit. With a mere cast of five players and three musicians, this musical comedy was the perfect play for this particular venue at St. John’s Parish Hall at 461 99th Street. The nuns, portrayed by guys, were hilarious. John Heffernan as Mother Superior, Anthony Marino, Josh Feder, Anthony Michael Stokes and a hilarious turn by John Panepinto as Sister Amnesia. Finely directed by Michael Coluccio with precise musical direction by James Olmstead and band members Anthony Rodriguez (reed) and Mark Rucci (percussion) who were outstanding, this inaugural production for this newly-founded group will long be remembered. You have three more chances to catch this show, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. St. John’s Church, 461 99th Street. Call (718) 745-3660 for reservations. Their web site is www.brooklynone.org. ‘Damn Yankees’ … No, not the series-winning world championship New York Yankees, but NCT’s Damn Yankees being presented at St. Patrick’s auditorium this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $20 for adults, and $15 for seniors and students. Damn Yankees is your standard musical comedy about the Faust legend, set during the ’50s and revolving around the hapless Washington Senator baseball team. This particular cast, though, brings new life to the old standard, starting right off with Joe Boyd and wife Meg (played by Michel Schneider and Eileen Dreyer, respectively). With a cast of close to 40, this group was tight and the long show moved along very nicely. Kudos to director Dawn Barry and the entire cast. Music director Zach Redler did a fine job and the voices were phenomenal; specifically Schneider and Chris Short (as Joe Hardy), John Stillwaggon (as Mr. Applegate) and Meg Corcoran (as Lola). Always nice to see Rob Fahn (Van Buren the manager), Bill Doyle (Sohovik the ballplayer) and Mickey Sullivan (as the Postman) on the stage. Pat Knutsen and Ann Gubiotti were fun as the Meg’s neighbors. Call (718) 482-3173 for tickets. Their web site is www.narrowscommunitytheater.com. ‘Spelling Bee’ … My friends over at the Ridge Chorale Youth Theater told me some wonderful news recently about their new home base, which will be at Adelphi Academy beginning with their next production: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The show is set for January 2010 and they are almost completely cast. They do still need ensemble players of high school or college-age students, and if you are interested, please e-mail ridgechorale@gmail.com. Flea Market … My friend Ruth Masyr from Ridge Repertory Theater is also involved with the Flea Market that will be held on Sunday, Nov. 15, indoors at the Bay Ridge Jewish Center, Fourth Avenue and 81st Street, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Over 40 vendors will sell new and used items, including clothes, collectibles, jewelry, crafts and holiday gifts. Admission is free and refreshments will be sold. Call (718) 836-3103 for more information. « « « Picks of the week … I see that Jeff Bridges is in a new movie called The Men Who Stare at Goats. I think I can wait to see that one (even though I am a big Bridges and George Clooney fan), so I decided to view The Big Lebowski instead. If you haven’t seen this one yet, I need to ask … “What are you waiting for?� The book is Mr. X by Peter Straub, a very clever mystery/adventure novel with your standard deviant murderer and psychological thriller aspect that made me laugh and scared the hell out me also. Straub is a good writer. The song is “Excitable Boy� by Warren Zevon — another good writer. Comments, suggestions? Contact me at citizenkane@brooklyneagle.net. The best of Brooklyn for Brooklyn’s best — that’s you!

Have a great week!

Questions? Comments? Sound off to the Editor

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2009 All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law. Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net