The 70th Precinct Community Council held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, and here are some highlights from Deputy Inspector Eric Rodriguez’s presentation:
• There have been two shootings so far in 2012, both in the area of Newkirk and Flatbush. The most recent was on Tuesday on Flatbush and Ditmas, which a reader asked about–two people were injured, one the intended target and another a bystander, neither critically, and though the shooter has been identified, he hasn’t been picked up yet.
• Because of that uptick in crime in that area, and because the old Impact Zone (roughly Albemarle-Parkside, E 18th-Bedford) hasn’t been broken up yet, some of the 47 new rookies for the Impact Zone have been moved to the area around Newkirk/Flatbush, so you will see more of a physical presence out there.
• Unfortunately, while the meeting was in progress last night, there was another report of shots fired, this time on Tennis Ct. Thankfully no one was injured, and the shooter was arrested.
• In more positive news, the 70th got three guns off the street on New Year’s Eve.
• Following several reports of home break-ins, three men were arrested while trying to break into an apartment in a building (which a few readers had mentioned). Turned out they were responsible for a string of such break-ins, and following the arrest, reports have decreased dramatically.
• As for car break-ins, DI Rodriguez repeated what he’s been saying on the subject for months now: He advises we not leave anything valuable in our cars.
• Watch out for mean dogs on the loose near the LIRR tracks. They’re reportedly attacking people’s pets, and though the 70th is working with the 60th Precinct and the MTA, and trying to get a liaison from Animal Care & Control to help, the dogs are cagey–police almost caught one on Wednesday, but it jumped a fence and got away–so call 911 if you see one.
• If you have a problem that the 70th can help with, you’re encouraged to reach out to them. Call Community Affairs at 718-851-5557. The Precinct goes over the issues every week, and they look at every one, no matter how small. And don’t be surprised if you get follow-up call from the Community Affairs officers, who often check back on issues to make sure things are going well.
• Finally, congratulations to Auxiliary Officer Peter Fradman, pictured above with DI Rodriguez, Officer Harrington, and Community Council President Edward Powell. He was honored this month for his 670 hours of volunteer work in a 6-month period–which is awesome, considering that Auxiliary Officers are required a minimum of 144 hours per year. Thank you for your hard work!
Dozens of friends and neighbors attended a memorial service for Joshua Rubin, the murdered owner of Whisk Bakery Cafe on Newkirk Ave, at Temple Beth Emeth on Sunday, January 8 to share memories and celebrate his life.
Rabbi Heidi Hoover put together a lovely service that included a number of sweet, and some quite funny, recollections from his family and friends, which painted a picture that anyone who met him would recognize: an energetic, friendly young man with a passion for his budding business. Keith Murray, friend of his from college, also spoke, sharing the rather ribald tale of how the two first met.
Neighbor Mark Hiney was kind enough to film the service, so those who were not able to attend would be able to see it. Many thanks to him for filming, to Jan Rosenberg for suggesting the service, and to Rabbi Hoover for hosting.
The sale of Whisk’s assets took place this morning, and when I stopped by just as the sale began, there were already several people stopping in, and several items had already been sold. Though it was supposed to run to 3pm, they seemed to have closed up early.
As for what will become of the space that held Whisk, Max from Qathra has been considering it, as Brokelyn mentioned yesterday, but he tells us nothing is final yet.
Finally, a reminder that donations can be made in Josh’s memory to one of two places:
Though neighbors have taken issue with Verizon for installing ugly poles and for never fixing its landlines, at least a few of you are looking forward to switching to the company’s FiOS service once it becomes available. That includes neighbor Samuel, who asked for opinions from anyone who might already have it in the area–if you have FiOS already, about where are you located, and how do you like the service?
If you have some other cable and/or internet provider, please share your thoughts on those. Personally, I have Optimum/Cablevision, and I pay for the upgraded internet speed, and it still stinks, stopping frequently during Netflix streaming, etc.
The City Council approved a parking legislation package yesterday that aims to make parking enforcement fairer and to eliminate excessive ticketing. The three parts are:
* Being able to cancel a ticket on the spot if you have a muni-meter receipt that’s time-stamped five minutes within the ticket’s time.
* Freezing late fees on tickets until 30 days after they’ve been issued, to give you a chance to contest them.
* Banning the city from placing parking stickers on cars that are said to be violating alternate side parking rules.
It’s those stickers that got under the nails of nearby Councilman David G. Greenfield, who wrote that legislation. The Sanitation Department has used neon stickers in cases of alternate-side parking violations since 1988, issuing about 400 each day alternative-side parking rules are in effect for street cleaning. The City Council argues that the stickers are attached even before motorists are given the chance to prove their innocence.
“Punishing drivers with these impossible-to-remove stickers is unfair and unnecessary,” said Greenfield in a statement. “New York City doesn’t employ methods of public humiliation and shame for those who violate serious crimes, yet has no problem defacing private property with neon stickers because you forgot to move your car on an alternate-side parking day.”
The bill, which keeps in place existing $45 to $60 fines for alternate-side parking violations but ends the practice of placing these stickers on the car’s rear window, received support from Council members, drivers, and the Automobile Association of America when introduced earlier this year.
The Bloomberg administration has voiced its opposition to the entire legislation package, but because it received such overwhelming support in City Council, it seems unlikely the Mayor will be able to veto it if that’s his plan.
If you’ve ever dealt with one of these stickers, you know how hard they can be to remove. The Daily News experimented with various removal liquids recently, with Windex leading the pack. What have you found works best?
The contents of Whisk Bakery Cafe will be sold in a one-day-only sale this Saturday, January 21. The family of owner Joshua Rubin asked that we spread the word about the sale, which will take place at the cafe at 1119 Newkirk Avenue between 10am and 3pm.
The entire contents of the cafe are for sale (you can see a list of available items at this Craigslist post), from restaurant equipment to furniture, to the wooden art piece shown above, which was just one of many things about the cafe that Josh was so enthusiastic about back when I first met him. Besides losing a positive member of our community, we’ve lost a lovely, burgeoning business. Josh, and Whisk, will be deeply missed.
For those who were unable to attend the memorial service held last week at Temple Beth Emeth, a neighbor was kind enough to film it. When Rabbi Heidi Hoover sends it over, we’ll be sure to post it for those who couldn’t make it.
We’ve been told that neighbor Adolph Fuerst of Marlborough Road died peacefully on Saturday, January 14. Our condolences to Shirley, David, and Ellen Fuerst, and to all his family and friends.
Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, January 17 at 11am at the Weinstein-Garlick-Kirschenbaum Chapel at 1153 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, New York (southeast corner at Avenue H), phone 718-377-4848.
The family will be sitting shivah on Tuesday, January 17 from 1:30-4:30pm at their home at 266 Marlborough Road. In addition, they will be sitting shivah on Wednesday, January 18 and Thursday, January 19 from 4-7pm at their home.
Memorial contributions can be made to The Brooklyn Parkinson Group:
Brooklyn Parkinson Group
Olie Westheimer, Executive Director
P.O. Box 24583
Brooklyn, NY 11202-4583
On top of that, you may have noticed the wind is insane. We’re under a strong wind advisory until 7pm. Winds may gust up to 50 miles per hour, so use caution when you’re out walking around under our big trees.
The 70th Precinct is encouraging people from all over Brooklyn to take advantage of a gun buyback program that’s coming up in Brooklyn North.
On Saturday, January 28, the 77th Precinct is hosting the program at the Bedford Central Presbyterian Church, located at 1200 Dean Street at Nostrand. The cash-for-guns program will exchange $200 bank card for operable handguns and $20 bank card for operable rifles and shotguns.
For more information, call the 70th Precinct Community Affairs Office at 718-851-5557.
On Tuesday, gas industry representatives and supporters of the extraction process known as horizontal hydraulic fracturing hand-delivered thousands of letters to state officials in Albany arguing for the economic benefits of horizontal hydraulic fracturing. The drilling method involves injecting chemically treated water into shale formations underground under high pressure to release natural gas.
Not to be outdone, environmental and grass-roots groups hand-delivered more than 12,000 comments, nearly 500 letters and a petition with more than 20,000 signatures to the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office. The gist of the feedback was that the state proposal is still deficient after revisions and needs significant further work.
They ask–among other things–that you “base your comments on your own reading of the documents…[s]ummaries which you read on the Internet or in newspapers may not be complete or accurate, and some on-line articles may be out-of-date.” Of course, we’re not all geologists, so you’ll probably want to do at least a little research if possible.
A few of the newsworthy bits from last night’s Community Board 14 monthly meeting:
* Deputy Inspector Rodriguez from the 70th Precinct reported that crime for 2011, when finally compiled, will be down about 2-3%. He also continues to stress that people be careful with electronics, especially on the subway. He reported that the Impact Zone (a designated high-crime area that receives extra officers to deter and fight crime) received 47 additional officers, bringing the total to around 100. Finally, he thanked the community for their concern about the officer injured on CIA on Friday night–he said at first they thought he might lose his leg, but now it thankfully doesn’t look that way, but he’s still got a long recovery ahead.
* The Flatbush Junction BID has a new interim Executive Director, Patti Hoff, who grew up in the area, and who is replacing Lisa Solomon who recently left the position.
* A reminder that if you need to throw out a mattress, you must put it in a clear plastic bag before you leave it on the curb for sanitation. CB14 has received a number of complaints from people who have been ticketed for not bagging a mattress–it’s a $100 fine, following a law that was put in place in December, 2010. So, now you know: bag it.
* Remember when NYC started requiring landlords to install carbon monoxide detectors? That was back in 2004, and the FDNY notes that most carbon monoxide detectors have a lifespan of about six years. Some devices will alert you when it’s time to replace them, others might have a date of expiration. Either way, this might be a great time to buy a replacement, or request a new one from your landlord.
There are a few CB14 committee meetings taking place this month that the public is welcome to attend–see this post for more info.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 10 at 3pm at the 70th Precinct (154 Lawrence Ave), the 70th Precinct will hold its Annual Memorial Prayer in honor of Police Officer Francis Hennessy, who died tragically of a brain aneurysm at age 35 while on duty. From Deputy Inspector Eric Rodriquez:
On Monday January 9, 2006 Police Officer Francis Hennessy engaged in a foot pursuit with other officers to the scene of a suspected domestic shots fired incident on Flatbush Avenue. Upon arrival at the scene of the incident, Officer Hennessy collapsed and was removed to Kings County Hospital, where the doctors worked expeditiously to render aide to revive him. After hours of continuous efforts, Officer Hennessy was stabilized.
After numerous tests, doctors discovered Officer Hennessy had a brain aneurysm. Later that day, on January 10, 2006 Officer Hennessy succumbed to a brain aneurysm as a result of conducting police action. He left behind his wife Regina, his daughters Deirdre & Shannon.
To Regina, the children and family, we would like to thank you for making Francis the man of honor and courage that he was, and for sharing him with us. May God Bless Francis and keep him. And may God Bless and protect his fellow officers who continue to work so nobly.
Though his name has still not been released, we’ve got a brief update on the police officer who was stuck by a van during a routine traffic stop on Coney Island Avenue on Friday night. The NYPD tells us he is in stable condition at Bellevue, but suffered serious leg injuries.
The car he pulled over had been reportedly heading southbound at a high rate of speed on CIA. When the officer was questioning the occupants, police say a white Econoline van struck the officer and the stopped car, pinning the officer between the two vehicles. The driver of the van was issued a summons for speeding.
A plainclothes police officer who had stopped a car on Coney Island Avenue last night for a traffic stop was struck and pinned by a van that hit him and the car he’d pulled over.
The unnamed officer stopped a car on CIA near Dorchester at about 10:30pm, then according to the New York Post, as he was standing behind the car, a van crashed into him, trapping the officer’s legs between the van and the car. He was transported to Kings County, then transferred to Bellevue for surgery.
Neighbor Helene Silverman has been without Verizon landline phone or DSL internet service in her East 19th Street home since September, and has had no signs of getting the service back anytime soon.
“Every time I call they move the date of completion two weeks later,” she said when we first discussed her issue last month. “And no one from Verizon has ever called to explain the situation.”
After I spoke with Verizon to find out if the outage is more widespread–as it was back in April, when several hundred Verizon customers lost service in our area–Silverman finally heard back from the company, who said they thought it would be back soon (not yet, though).
With Verizon putting a major push on its fiber optic FiOS service, which has also brought some controversy to the neighborhood, how is its copper communication network holding up? Because other options are available, and because more people are abandoning landlines for mobile service, Verizon’s landline customer base is dwindling–CBS reported Verizon had a loss of one million landlines in the first two quarters of 2011. And following a recent widespread outage in the Bronx, one resident claimed Verizon is intentionally allowing a degradation of the copper system, and is pushing people to switch to FiOS instead, an allegation that Verizon denies.
In our area, the company explained that they know of the problems, and that they fix them as they happen.
“We are aware of past outages in this area,” said John Bonomo, Verizon’s Director of Media Relations. “And we obviously handle each outage when they occur, whether it be an individual customer problem, or something that may affect service to many customers. While we are maintaining the telecom infrastructure in the area, we are studying various factors on how possible modifications to the landline network in the area may enhance service to our customers.”
A head’s up for those with kids looking for wintertime activities and those looking for a Prospect Park pit stop: The Prospect Park Audubon Center and the Lefferts Historic House will be closed to the public for a month, from January 3 through February 3. Both will reopen February 4.
In going over some memorable moments of 2011, Twitter user @awesomechoi chose meeting LARPers in Prospect Park as her favorite in NYC. Two Ditmas Park moments stand out for me: the birdman of the B68, and the day I saw a feral cat wait for the walk signal and cross using the crosswalk at the corner of Foster and Argyle. What was the most interesting thing you ran into this year?
United Cerebral Palsy of New York City, located across from the 70th Police Precinct on Lawrence Avenue, offers several programs and services to children and adults with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. They sent over some information about some of the services available:
The SHARE Center (Samuel Hausman Activities Resource & Education) offers education, information, and assistance to families who have a child with special needs. SHARE brings together expert staff support along with a unique range of specialized resources that include a lending library for books, videos and equipment; adapted toys; adapted computers; specialized software augmentative communication systems; and more. Click here for a brochure to learn more, or call 718.436.7979, x708.
TechWorks gives people an opportunity to explore the variety of assistive technology products available to help make their, or their family members, lives easier. These include aids for daily living, environmental control units, adapted telephones, seating and positioning equipment, and home and workplace adaptations. To learn more about how to “test drive” this equipment, download this flyer, and to learn about their mobile TechWorks centers, download this one, and email techworks@ucpnyc.org to learn more.
As 2011 wraps up, some may be considering making tax-deductible charitable donations. Why not keep some of that money in our community? Last week we listed several local organizations that could use your help, so check that list again as you think about giving.
While C4B is an all volunteer run organization, we do have everyday expenses to keep the garden running. As an added incentive, a neighborhood resident will match all of your donations between now and January 13th dollar for dollar up to $500, bringing the total for C4B to $1,000. Any contribution, whether $5, $10 or $100, will allow us to buy needed tools and equipment, upgrade our compost bins, cover our liability insurance, and buy seeds and plants for the garden. And with a gift of $100 or more, you will also receive a free C4B t-shirt!
All contributions are tax deductable. Compost for Brooklyn is fiscally sponsored by the Open Space Institute, Inc., as part of their Citizen Action program. We thank you for your support!
You can make a donation online or by mail. Find out how at their website.
A big thank you to the Parks Department for responding so quickly about the tattered flag at the Parade Ground. They had new flags up as of this morning, which Ditmas Deb noted (check her blog, Prospect Park Days, to see them stringing one up). And thanks again to William Bredbeck for noticing and taking a picture of the old one.
Of course when I stopped by earlier, the wind had stopped, but I think you can see the difference anyway. Big improvement, and much appreciated.
This morning, Notify NYC sent out a Silver Alert for 69-year-old Lloyd Hall, who was last seen south of our neighborhood:
Mr. Hall is described as a black male, 5’8″ tall, 160lbs, clean-shaven and was last seen wearing an orange sweater, gray pants and black loafers. Mr. Hall suffers from Alzheimer’s and was last seen 12/28 at his residence near King’s Highway and Flatbush Avenue, in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn. If you see this individual please call 9-1-1.
To receive future Notify NYC alerts, sign up here.
We checked with the Parks Department about the terribly tattered flag at the Parade Ground, to make sure they knew what a bad state it’s in, and we’ve been told they will replace it “tomorrow if possible but certainly asap.” Looking forward to seeing a sharp new one up there!
I took this picture yesterday of the flag by the north side of the parks building in the Parade Ground. I think it is a good example of how little attention is being spent on our side of the park. I doubt this flag would be flying on the other side.
This may have something to do with that building’s trouble this past October, when it was evacuated because of poor conditions. If the staff hasn’t returned to the building, the flag may have been left up through some pretty poor weather. Regardless, someone on the Parks staff or with the Prospect Park Alliance should get over there and take it down. As neighborhood problems go, this is a pretty quick fix. Plus, it’s the law:
(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
The New York Cares Coat Drive announced today that it’s collected 20,000 coats out of the 100,000 coats it needs. The organization distributes the coats to New York City’s homeless and low-income men, women, and children who desperately need these coats to stay warm as the temperature drops. If you have a coat sitting in the back of your closet that you don’t use anymore, now’s the time to bring it out to donate.
You can donate gently-used, freshly laundered coats at hundreds of locations throughout the city through Saturday, December 31. Collection sites include all NYPD Police Precincts (our 70th Precinct is located at 154 Lawrence Ave, between Ocean Parkway and Seton Place), Penn Station, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Grand Central Terminal, Citi Pond at Bryant Park, Janovic Paint and Decorating Centers, Oz Moving and Storage locations, and many other sites.
Selfhelp Community Services is looking for volunteers to visit Holocaust survivors in their homes. They have clients all over Brooklyn, and the visits are usually about an hour a week, and can take place any day of the week, including evenings and Sundays.
“Our visitors and their older friends meet and decide what they want to do together,” Fran Tarshish, Social Work Supervisor and Brooklyn NV Program Volunteer Coordinator at Selfhelp explains. “Current activities include making cookies, scrap-booking, discussing current affairs, visiting a favorite diner, and playing chess.”
Visitors are provided with training before they go into anyone’s home.
If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact Fran at 718-633-1300 or ftarshish@selfhelp.net.
There is this white line of paint that runs along the sidewalk on Rugby Road between Beverley and Church, and it’s become an eyesore for at least one neighbor. Barden Prisant explains to the Brooklyn Paper that he sees it as graffiti, similar to something he’d seen previously on the Lower East Side, but he’s contacted the Anti-Graffiti Task Force, who let him know that sidewalks are the property owner’s responsibility.
Barden raised the issue during the public comment period at the recent Community Board 14 meeting, which was noted at the time is not the right forum for complaints–here’s how to contact CB14 if you have any issues like this in the neighborhood.
If you’ve had any experience removing paint from a sidewalk, do share how you did it–and maybe someone nearby has a power washer they could lend out?
ALRIGHT THEN….i have rarely felt so fired up as i have the moment i heard that the susan g. komen breast cancer charity had made some politically-motivated back-room board deal/manipulation to pull funding from planned parenthood. and then listened to them spin spin spin during the vertigo-inspiring fall-out. but most people, it turns out, have […]
Which is better for kids - karate or taekwondo? Sensei Serge from Urban Martial Arts in Brooklyn NY explains the difference between karate vs taekwondo for kids. […]
I just spent an intensive weekend with the CIA. That’s the Culinary Institute of America, not the Central Intelligence Agency. So, to clarify further, I was in Hyde Park, NY, rather than Langley, VA, and I was happy to be present at the CIA where the food may be grilled but the “guests” are not. […]
You deserve a night out on the town, kid-free. So why not drop your child with us on Sat, Feb 11, 2012 from 6 pm to 9 pm for a night of pizza, fun, and games? […]
Article By ALISON GOPNIK Read the Wall Street Journal Brain research is often taken to mean that adolescents are really just defective adults—grown-ups with a missing part. Public policy debates about teenagers thus often turn on the question of when, exactly, certain areas of the brain develop, and so at what age children should be allowed […]
Urban Martial Arts rocked the house at the Long Island Winter Open Karate Tournament 2012! We took home two 1st place, five 2nd place, two 3rd place, and two 4th place trophies. […]
Susan G. Komen foundation has decided to cut funding to Planned Parenthood – having been influenced by political right-wing moolah. Screw them. Don’t give them a penny and let them know. I encourage you to unsubscribe their emails and post to your Facebook or social network site and email them also to tell them that […]
AMAZING story in this morning’s Arts section of The New York Times about folklorist Alan Lomax. Lomax, who was the first to record Woody Guthrie and Muddy Waters, dedicated his life to increasing the awareness of traditional music by doing radio and television programs, organizing concerts and festivals, and writing books, articles and essays. Next month, hi […]
Dirt Talk Two: Geology and Soils of New York City with Dr. Charles Merguerian Ample overview of regional geology, the talk will zero in on the geology and soils of Brooklyn by Dr. Merguerian of Hofstra University and Duke Geological Laboratory and the nationally recognized leading authority of the NYC area.Tuesday Feb 21st, 20128 - 9:00 pmDownstairs @ Sycamo […]
There are some pretty significant releases ahead in the next couple months. To get us all hot and excited about them, artists and labels typically put out a mini documentary or the first single video on YouTube a few weeks/months before the album is released. Here are three videos that precede three highly anticipated albums […]
Drew Grow & The Pastors’ Wives, the Portland alt-Gospel band, is about to join The Head and the Heart on a tour that will likely put the band on the map. Grow and his band will open up for their fellow Pacific Northwest friends with a sound that most THATH fans will eat up. Check […]
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