Blogs at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Archive for August, 2008

Rockabilly and Burlesque Festival Returns

August 21st, 2008 by Joe Filippazzo

This article appeared in the 21 August issue of The Bay Ridge Courier.

Labor Day weekend has always been John Q. Public’s long-awaited respite from a grinding year of work.

It is but a few days where every job-related concern can be postponed, where all the cares of that first Monday in September melt away. It’s an extended weekend so cherished, so savored, the government demands we relax. It’s hooky as federal mandate.

So how do you plan to spend your pittance of guaranteed vacation time? Well, Cha Cha’s of Coney Island may have the answer.

The Second Annual Rockabilly and Burlesque Festival is a four-day celebration of Brooklyn subculture as only Coney Island can present.


John “Cha Cha” Ciarcia poses with the winners of last year’s Coney Island Pin-Up Girl contest.

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Tough Two-year-old in Leukemia Battle

August 21st, 2008 by Joe Filippazzo

This article appeared in the 21 August issue of The Bay Ridge Courier.

About a month ago, two-year-old Sadie Page of Clinton Hill was diagnosed with leukemia.

Since then, an overwhelming outpouring of support from her neighborhood has shown just how the absolute worst of circumstances can bring out the very best in a community.

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First Annual Punk and Metal Extravaganza at the Shore

August 1st, 2008 by Joe Filippazzo

This article appeared in the 1 August issue of The Williamsburg Courier.

We’ve all seen the tee shirts that plead “Punk’s not dead” as if to convince a skeptical passerby or defend the genre’s honor.

Well, the point is moot and that tee shirt’s ugly anyway. Punk is not only alive; it’s loud, it’s fun and it’s keeping Brooklyn up way past it’s bedtime.

The First Annual Punk and Metal Extravaganza will descend on Cha Cha’s in Coney Island on August 2 and, considering the enthusiasm of the bands involved, you would do well to be there.


Lisa Brown, the promoter for the Punk and Metal Extravaganza at Cha Cha’s, and Mongrel Bitch perform at Lucky 13 Saloon.

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