Arts and Entertainment

Omission Accomplished: Five People Left Off BKMag’s 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture List

March 15, 2014

BK Mag’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture should have just been called an Ode to Gatekeepers. Some felt it was a roll call of monied, privileged gate keepers summed up in two words: Mikhail Prokorov. Still others will claim it’s a tribute to gentrifiers, carpet baggers and outsiders.

But, hey, any and all lists like BK Mag’s are subjective. So why not pile on with our own completely subjective list of the 5 Brooklynites we felt should have been part of the 100.

Jake Dobkin, Gothamist: Everyone you know reads Gothamist. Dobkin and company have successfully recreated the water cooler for real New Yorkers (and the well assimilated) who want to share their irritation, bemusement and “outrage” over the daily grind that is living in this crazy city. You don’t get more “Brooklyn Culture” than that.

Otis Pearsall, Preservationist – Without Pearsall’s leadership in the landmarking of Brooklyn Heights 50 years ago, none of this “brownstoning” would have been possible. Much of Brooklyn would look a lot more like Queens by now.

Adam Suerte, Artist: A Cobble Hill native (pictured above), the tattoo artist and gallery owner is one of a small handful of folks who represent real Brooklyn Culture. And, he’s the designer of our “remixed” logo above too.

Jim Carden and Andy Templar co-owners, The Bell House, Floyd, Union Hall: Forget the fact that they created the most awesome idea ever – BOCCE IN A BAR at Floyd and later Union Hall. Carden and Templar opened the Bell House which is arguably the epicenter of the best of “Brooklyn Culture”. From DJ Steve Reynold’s Party Like It’s 1999, the annual Kentucky Derby Party (hosted by Michael Boyd), hosting many podcasts, the NPR show Ask Me Another, John Hodgman’s Ragnarok, and the list goes on. They have created a venue where the creative and unpretentious can thrive.

Jeff Strabone, New Brooklyn Theater, #SaveLICH : The educator and former president of the Cobble Hill Association has been a tenacious warrior in the effort to save Long Island College Hospital. At the same time as chairman of the New Brooklyn Theater, he staged a production of Edward Albee’s The Death of Bessie Smith INSIDE Interfaith Hospital.

Who else do you think should be on this list of The Omitted? We encourage you to add your own thoughts about who we missed in the comments below.

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