Gentrification is transforming Brooklyn into the “Next Manhattan”, but for many long-time residents the housing boom sparked by urban renewal has become a nightmare.

Produced and Filmed by Michael V’inkin Lee, Sarah Munir, and Vikram Patel.

In its’ short existence hip-hop music has found a way to captivate people of all cultures. Now Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn has bred a Bengali rapper named Brooklyn Shanti. Although he’s gained the respect of his hip-hop peers, his family has not been as open to the idea of him becoming a hip-hop superstar.

Neeno, a 68-year old fishmonger,has been selling fresh fish for a cheap price at the corner of Myrtle Street in Brooklyn for the past 15 years. Even though he loves what he does, his heart yearns to go back to Puerto Rico, from where he originally belongs.

“Hello Brooklyn! I’ve been waiting a long time to say that,” Center Brook Lopez said at the team’s formal logo unveiling press conference taking place at Modell’s Sporting Goods at Flatbush Avenue, across the street from Nets’ new home, Barclays Center. 

The conference was filled with reporters, photographers and Nets fans. The Nets gave out opening game tickets to the first 100 people, so the line began forming about eight hours before the doors opened.

“Today is a great day for Brooklyn!” said Bruce Ratner, who is the real estate developer and minority owner who was the catalyst behind the team’s relocation. “It’s taken 10 years, but they are officially the Brooklyn Nets.”

The Nets will have a black and white color scheme, making it the only team in the NBA with black and white as its team colors. The new logo is shaped like a shield. Inside the shield, the team’s name is spelled out above a basketball, which has a capital B on it. Below the shield, Brooklyn is printed.

The Nets say the logo and color scheme were designed by minority owner hip hop megastar Jay-Z and inspired by the New York City Transit Authority subway signs from 1957,when Brooklyn last had a professional team, the Dodgers.

“Just like Brooklyn is different than anywhere in the world we will be the lone NBA team with only black and white as colors,” said Nets CEO Brett Yormark. “As we are entering a new era for this team we knew that we had one chance and one chance only to make it work, and we were thrilled with the results.”

After losing 70 games in the 2009-10 season, the team moved out from the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. to Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. And now they are moving to their new home in Brooklyn — the $1 billion Barclays Center. They are hoping the new home will bring them new energy and good luck.

“Hopefully, around this time next year you guys will be at our press conference for the 2013 playoffs,” Avery Johnson, the head couch of the Nets, said.

Sanford Lapsley is a Nets fan from Queens. He came to Brooklyn to witness the end of an old era and a beginning of a new era.

“I love the new logo color! It’s black and white. There is no gray with Nets fans,” Lapsley said. “You can’t be in the middle with that!”

Maurice Edwards was born and raised in Brooklyn. He bought several new Nets logo shirts and jackets on this special day.

“I was one of the people who have waited for the past eight years to see this new Barclays Center and this Brooklyn Project!” Edwards said. “It’s almost thrilled to hold a new Brooklyn Nets jersey and jacket.”

“We’ve been talking about it, but now the reality is we are the Brooklyn Nets,” Billy King, the general manage of the Nets said. “The arena is on schedule. It’s going to be one of the best arenas in the league.”

The Brooklyn Lens webcast for the week of April 27, 2012.

Samuel Schanzer, getting ready for his second party of his 104th birthday. (Rebecca Ellis / The Brooklyn Ink)

Samuel Schanzer reached a milestone that most don’t: he turned 104 years old on Wednesday, April 18. His storied life required a lot of extra pages.

“I have more wrinkles than he does,” his son, Joe Schanzer, 55, said.

But life has not always been carefree for the elder Schanzer. He said he feels lucky to be alive this long, but added, “I also lost a lot.”

Samuel Schanzer, who lives in Bensonhurst, is a Holocaust survivor. He escaped a forced-labor salt mine in Wieliczka, Poland in 1944. He lost his parents, cousins, aunts, and uncles to the Nazi genocide campaign against Jews in Europe. He hid from the Nazis until the Russians liberated the territory from Hitler’s occupation.

He carries his stocky frame well, jaunting with his walker, maneuvering with just a little help from his daughter, Sara, from the cake, which just had one 1-0-4 candle to blow out, to his easy chair. One of his helpers is getting his suit ready for his second engagement. This is a special occasion, so he has two parties to go to. Seated in his easy chair, Mr. Schanzer tackles a hefty piece of birthday cake, the rose of course.

“When you’re hungry, everything’s good!” he said.

Whether it’s genetic longevity or a certain hardiness acquired by a history of struggle, Mr. Schanzer exemplifies the journey of the day-by-day. His simple recipe for living can serve as a proverbial fountain of youth: take things one step at a time, and cherish life’s precious moments and blessings.

Schanzer has not lived an exceptionally healthy lifestyle in his youth, but says he exercises three times a day. He didn’t start taking medication until last year and waited until the age of 100 to stop smoking.

“So what’s the lesson learned here? Enjoy your life!” Sara, his daughter, said.

Mr. Schanzer seated in his easy chair talking to his son. (Rebecca Ellis / The Brooklyn Ink)

Joe and Sara Schanzer recall their father’s active lifestyle, which consisted of going dancing, to the theater, and enjoying New York City’s many cultural aspects with his late wife, Pola, who passed away at the age of 90 last year.

“But when my wife died, my health went down. She was dancing every day,” Schanzer said.

Schanzer met his wife at a displaced persons center in Frankfurt, Germany and married in 1948 in a union that lasted 61 years. Sara said that her parents’ marriage was not atypical for Holocaust survivors, and that many of the former center’s residents stayed in touch and became lifelong friends.
Sara said her mother wore a wedding gown that had been passed on from bride to bride in the camp.

“They just had one, then gave it to the next, gave it to the next. They were all size 1 because they were all just out of concentration camps and nobody was a larger size than that,” Sara said.

Her father had told her that the survivors attended and cooked for each other’s weddings, taking the place of the families they lost.

Schanzer did get to go to his daughter’s wedding though. Sara, who is 60 years old, married six years ago. Her then-98-year-old father walked her down the aisle.

“He stole the bride’s thunder!” she recalls.

While living at the camp in Frankfurt, Germany, Schanzer sold carp that he bought in Bavaria to earn a little extra income. He brought the fish to Frankfurt and sold it to residents at the camp and to people in town, but did not have the water in the bucket to transport them live as was customary at the time.

“It didn’t last long,” Schanzer said, because he did not have the means to store it. “The fish would die, but I sold it anyway, because it was cheaper than fresh fish.”

The Schanzers emigrated to the United States in 1950, boarding the boat with a total of one dollar in their possession, which was reduced to 15 cents cash in his pocket after he had splurged on an 85-cent soda en route. A collection of Rosenthal dishware was their sole asset. It survived the journey and is still on display in Schanzer’s living room in Bensonhurst, where the family finally settled in 1962.

Born in 1908, Schanzer was four years old when the Titanic sank. His grandmother, who was already in the United States, had already “signed off” for the rest of the family to come to the United States, but the Titanic tragedy had frightened the family to the point that they had decided to forego the voyage and stay in Europe. His parents perished in the Holocaust.

During that treacherous time, Schanzer credits not only fellow villagers in Poland for helping him to escape the salt mine and hide from the Nazis, but also credits the voice of his mother in his head for guiding him to safety.

“His mother said to him go or don’t go, stay hidden or don’t hide and he listened to what his mother said and she helped to keep him alive,” Sara recounted, her father nodding in his easy chair beside her.

Asked what he hopes for tomorrow and for the future, Schanzer’s response was imbued with a sense of satisfaction and completion. “Nothing else,” he said – other than looking forward to his granddaughter graduating from medical school at University of Pennsylvania.

Read more about Brooklyn Holocaust survivors and the services that help them here.

The Brooklyn Lens Webcast 4/13/2012 from The Brooklyn Ink on Vimeo.

The Brooklyn Lens webcast for the week of April 13, 2012.

After eight years of pursuing his passion and working for the MTA, Brooklyn-bred filmmaker Wilkie Cornelius, Jr. has finally realized his dream of making a movie. He premiered his first film Single Hills at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and hopes to turn it into his Hollywood debut.

With seven recent cases of sexual abuse in our city’s schools, parents are on high alert.  Ama Dwimoh is a former prosecutor for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and the creator of a bureau that exclusively handled the sexual, physical abuse and murders of children under the age of eleven.  Dwimoh talked to The Brooklyn Ink and offered these insights: 

What can parents do to create a safer environment?

-Parents and all responsible adults must pay attention. Know who is around your child—who has access and an opportunity to betray your trust

-Create an environment for your child that embraces truth. There should be nothing that your child is afraid to tell you. Simply, we–as a family have no secrets

-Remind your child from time to time that there is no one more important to you than they are

-Follow your intuition

It’s all about creating a safety net around your children and also paying attention to the actions and behaviors of the adults around your child, and your child’s responses to adults.

Warning signs to look for:

-Behavior extremes

-Problems sleeping—fear of the nighttime or of going home or to a particular location

-Eating disorders, poor hygiene, inappropriate dress

-Depression, listlessness, extended periods of sadness

-Sexually inappropriate behavior

Although these are possible indicators that something may be wrong in your child’s life, you know your child best. There is no better investment of your time than to pay attention to your child and not just what is actually being said, but what is not. Look at all the circumstances and always encourage and maintain an open and honest dialogue with your child.

What should you do when a child says he or she has been abused

Once a child has disclosed abuse, he or she must be protected and put in a safe environment, and the authorities need to become involved. Victims of these types of crimes must be supported and provided with counseling by therapists who specialize in this subject matter.

Every child victim must be reminded (along with their respective families)—it’s not their fault. We don’t blame children for the criminal actions of the predators that abuse them. It’s a child’s basic civil right to be cherished, protected and to live free of abuse at the hands of any abuser.

When children are victims of sexual abuse, its more than a betrayal of trust—it’s a crime.

The Brooklyn Lens webcast for the week of March 30, 2012.