John Loscalzo, the trail-blazing Brooklyn blogger and occasional Brooklyn Paper contributor known to Brooklyn Heights residents as Homer Fink — his pseudonym on his popular website the Brooklyn Heights Blog — died suddenly on Wednesday at Brooklyn Hospital. He was 52.
The cause of death was not released.
The Queens-born Loscalzo, who also worked for CBS radio, moved to the Heights in the mid-2000s, and started the blog soon after, updating the web-viewing public with his “dispatches from America’s first suburb” a few times a day, covering goings on with humor and an eye for detail, whether the issue at hand was local development or the treasures found in retreating snow banks.
It was a job he loved to do, said his wife of 23 years, Tracy Zamot, and one he hoped that would make the world better.
“He wanted nothing more than to create positivity for the place he knew we would raise our family,” said Zamot.
That family soon included a daughter, his now four-year-old daughter, whom he also leaves behind.
“He was a brilliant father,” said Zamot. “We had twenty-something years together, and we fell in love all over again when that little girl was born.”
Zamot added that she wasn’t sure if the blog would continue, but hoped it would.
“It might take a pause,” she said.
As of Friday, only two posts had gone up on the blog, one announcing his death and a second a video tribute to his life.
Loscalzo’s deep knowledge of his neighborhood shone through on his Hidden Brooklyn Heights walking tours, where he schooled people on the oddities and lesser-known histories of the area.
“John was a dog with a bone when he was interested in something,” Zamot said. “ He was a sponge.”
Loscalzo spent years spinning tunes and entertaining listeners as radio disc jockey, and most recently worked as director of music content for CBS radio stations nationwide. His boss at CBS remembered a hard worker who knew the industry inside and out, and who was downright fun to have around.
“John was just a really unique person,” said Adam Wiener, a vice president at CBS Local. “He could defuse tension very quickly because he had these great radio voices that he could employ at any moment.”
Zamot encouraged people to take a page out of his book and do something good for other people in the wake of her husband’s death.
“Don’t wait for somebody to die before you reconnect,” she said. “Help someone get a job, don’t take anyone for granted, overtip your waiter. That is what he was about.”
There will be a memorial service for Loscalzo on Wednesday at 7 pm at Scotto Funeral Home in Carroll Gardens. In lieu of flowers, his family is requesting donations to an education fund for his daughter Gracie. The Brooklyn Heights blog has details on how to make a donation.
John Loscalzo memorial service at Scotto Funeral Home [106 First Pl. between Court and Smith streets in Carroll Gardens, (718) 875–2515 www.scottoandheyer.co,]. April 8 at 7–9 pm.
