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?
Nearly one year ago, the city came to a halt when we were hit with the sixth largest snowstorm on record. You may remember that it didn’t go so well, as far as city services are concerned, and this year everyone seems determined to get things right. We’ll see how that goes in practice, but for now, check out the following plan from Community Board 14.
Of note: The first roads plowed are those that are considered main arteries, which makes dead-ends, which we have a lot of and which require a smaller plowing vehicle, low on the list of priorities. The full list of roads and their plowing priorities are listed in the plan below.
If you’re interested in even more small details, the Brooklyn Borough Snow Removal Plan lists things like how many plows individual agencies can provide (DOT? 18), how much capacity we have for calcium chloride (84,000 gallons), and how you can register with the Department of Sanitation as a temporary snow laborer to be called upon for heavy physical labor during an extreme snow event ($12-18/hour).
The year-end listing madness has begun, and here’s an interesting one from Google, which runs down its top 10 internet searches for 2011. New York gets one of their regional city lists, and here is what we looked for most this year:
1. MTA
2. NJ Transit
3. Hopstop
4. DMV NY
5. Con Edison
6. Hurricane Irene Path
7. NYCDOE
8. EZPass
9. Brooklyn Public Library
10. Brooklyn Bowl
Two Brooklyn items making the top ten–and those being the library and bowling–is somehow refreshing. People still read! And bowl! (Or, they enjoy the entertainment at either of those places, but still.) At least the global number one didn’t breach our searches: Rebecca Black was the most-searched term in the world this year.
On Thursday between 10am and 3pm, the New York City Office of Emergency Management, in partnership with the FEMA, S&T, and the FCC, will conduct a test of the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system. This is a new, free emergency notification service that will allow authorized government officials to send geographically targeted emergency alerts to enabled mobile devices on the AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon wireless networks.
They will be sending the alert to six test phones, but some members of the public may receive a message as well. Some newer mobile devices may be WEA-capable and may receive one or more of the test messages, which will be an audible notification (no matter if you keep your device on vibrate, or have an awesome ringtone) along with a text message that says “Severe Alert” or “Extreme Alert” on your main screen, then info about the test in the text message body.
Due to the limited nature of this test, you probably won’t get one, but now you know what it is if you do.
Participating mobile carriers are required by the FCC to begin deploying WEA technology by April 2012, so this isn’t something you need to opt into–it will automatically be available on new phones in the future.
At last night’s general monthly meeting of Community Board 14, Chairman Alvin M. Berk discussed the city’s plan to cut community board budgets over the next few years by 2% initially, and then an additional 6%. It would amount to a loss of about $15,000 to CB14′s annual budget in 2013.
“This is a trivial amount to the city budget,” Berk said, “but the benefits of community boards will be jeopardized.”
CB14 uses its budget in part to help fund improvement projects around the area, which includes things like commercial strip revitalization projects, adding more crossing guards, and establishing new schools.
Additionally, the community board is your direct link to government on a local level. If you have an issue in the neighborhood, CB14 is available to address it with whatever agencies may be responsible.
If you feel CB14 has done something useful for the neighborhood, and you feel a cut to its budget would adversely effect the community, the board suggests you let your representatives know. Councilmember Mathieu Eugene, who was present at the meeting last night, pledged his support, but the more he hears from the community, the better. His email address is mathieu.eugene@council.nyc.gov, and for those who live in Councilmember Jumaane Williams’ district, you can contact him at williams@council.nyc.ny.us.
A neighbor on Ocean Ave and Dorchester had an encounter with a couple of representatives from IDT Energy yesterday that doesn’t do much to help the Energy Service Company (ESCO) with its image as an aggressive, confrontational company that has been accused of shady business practices in the past.
It has been a few years since IDT was in the news for reportedly signing people up for a contract to deliver their electricity, and then making it difficult or expensive to get out of the contract. The company currently has a B+ with the Better Business Bureau, but their recent complaints are for advertising/sales issues, and many people in the area have complained to us in the past year of reps showing up at odd hours and becoming hostile when asked for more information, ID, or to leave.
There are several ESCOs available as an alternative to Con Ed, and many reps have been going door to door this year. Some people like the different carriers, and have found advantages to them. Just do your research, and don’t sign anything until you read the fine print.
Seems that parking will be difficult on Church and Stratford Avenues this week, as two productions will be filming projects on some blocks. The one on Stratford, which is working today and tomorrow, is listed as Mega G Productions, so it could be a commercial or music video, while the one on Church is for the CBS series Unforgettable, about a detective who has a super memory.
As we brace ourselves for whatever winter will bring, Citizens Committee for New York City is partnering with NYC Service to help enlist community organizations in an effort to help seniors and the disabled clear the snow in front of their homes.
Citizens Committee has already worked with the Department for the Aging to identify seniors that would need this last resort service. NYC Service is currently building a list of community groups in order to deploy volunteers to meet the needs of seniors in their neighborhood.
If your are part of a group–neighborhood association, school committee, book club, whatever–that would like to volunteer to help the elderly and the disabled clear the snow from their homes in our area, please send an email to Saleen Shah at sshah@citizensnyc.org.
This month’s meeting of the 70th Precinct Community Council was somewhat more sparsely attended than October’s. Hopefully, this will change at the next meeting–Monday, December 19 at 7:30pm–which is doubling as a holiday party. These meetings really are great opportunities to voice concerns directly to community leaders. If you’ve commented on crime posts here in the past, if you’ve simply read the posts and are concerned, or if you’re just concerned, please show up. The precinct relies on information from residents as much as we rely on them for protection. So show up and help them out.
That said, here’s what went down this past Wednesday night.
Before the meeting, I had a chance to ask Lt. Jacqueline Bourne of Community Affairs about the situation with Jack on East 17th and Cortelyou. There had been some discussion in the comments about whether to call 911 or the Kings County Mobile Unit if anyone sees Jack acting erratically. Lt. Bourne emphatically said to call 911 if anyone is acting in a manner where they seem like a threat to themselves or others.
Both Deputy Inspector Eric Rodriguez (Commanding Officer of the 70th) and Captain Steven Griffith (Commanding Officer of Transit District 32) addressed the “cell-phone phenomena” that is driving crime city- and nationwide:
- Rodriguez differentiated between grand larceny (which is theft without a violent assualt like the use of weapons or being hit) and robbery (which involved a violent assault).
- Captain Griffith, whose district includes many of the stops in the 70th precinct including Cortelyou, Beverley, and Church Avenue, announced that an arrest had been made of someone who had been preying on people getting off at Church Avenue. Inspector Rodriguez later said that, after this arrest, attacks at the Church Avenue station had stopped.
- iPhones and iPads are the major target for thieves. They can get $200 each for an iPhone by selling them to stores on Church Avenue. Rodriguez would not specify which store or stores were buying the merchandise, but is aware of them and repeatedly warned that “if you buy stolen phones, we’ll catch you, we’ll lock you up.” They’re sending decoys into stores trying to buy merchandise, and if a store sells them stolen merchandise, they’re being arrested.
- Accompanying Griffith was a lieutenant from the Transit Decoy Squad. Griffith explained that there are police decoys out working to catch criminals on the trains and in the stations. I asked Rodriguez if he had any similar sort of operation in the 70th tasked with addressing crime occurring on the street (specifically some of the recent assaults along Cortelyou). He said that there are continual joint operations between the 70th and Transit Bureau District 32, and that they’ve gotten lots of information from recent arrests that they’re currently working. There have been a couple of arrests related to the Cortelyou and Beverley stations, including one on the Beverley platform itself, and they’ve identified some individuals who are being sought.
- Rodriguez hopes for legislation that will force cell phone companies to place technology in their phones that will automatically shut the phones down when they are stolen. He said Verizon already has this technology in their phones. He also hopes, in the future, to have a registry of serial numbers set up, where people can register their phones in case of theft. One thing people can do now, he said, is download apps like iGotYa or Find My iPhone. Matt, a resident who Lauren Collins Elvers mentioned in her interview with us as someone working to combat shoplifting along Church Avenue, was at the meeting and mentioned to me that upgrading to the new operating system on iPhones should install this technology automatically.
- Rodriguez emphasized, though, that the most important way to combat these and all crimes in our neighborhood is to build lines of communication between the community and the police. This is a long-term process that he’s working to build and encourages everyone to take part.
An amenities package is being installed at Newkirk Plaza, and things are staring to come together pretty quickly now. Robin Redmond from the Flatbush Development Corporation sends over this picture of some of the new bike racks and fence planters. Looking forward to seeing some flowers in there!
In a difficult economy such as the one we’re experiencing now, food pantries are especially hard hit, experiencing more demand and fewer donations. If you’ve never donated before, why not consider doing so now–pick up a few extra nonperishable items the next time you’re at the store (see a list here), and drop off the bag at one of the following places in our area:
CAMBA Holiday Food Drive
Their annual holiday drive is a big event, and it continues through the month. But they always need donations, so keep this in mind year-round. 1720 Church Avenue, 2nd Floor 885 Flatbush Avenue, Room 202
Brooklyn College Food Drive
In partnership with Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs, designated drop-off sites are placed throughout the campus. 2900 Bedford Avenue: through Friday, December 9
Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs’ Community Service Offices
As part of the Flatbush Community Food Partnership, the offices collect food on an ongoing basis. 2294 Nostrand Avenue (between Avenues I & J): Monday-Thursday, 10am-5pm, Friday, 10am-2pm 1414 Cortelyou Road: Thursday, 10am-5pm
Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church
The emergency food pantry has seen increased demand this year. Drop off anytime, but keep in mind the church is closed after 4pm on Mondays. 424 E 19th Street at Dorchester
Last month the city unveiled a sleek new design for public seating, and you can let them know where you want to sit. The CityBench program aims to install 1,000 steel benches across the five boroughs, and while they have priorities–bus stops, retail districts, near libraries, etc.–the public is welcome to help determine where they go.
There is a form for bench requests available online, so if you know of a spot where a bench is needed, please fill it out. In addition to the top priority locations, there are several restrictions that limit where they can go, including width of the sidewalk and where tree pits and business doors are. But I’m sure there are some good places you can think–any ideas? Or do we have enough?
If you’ve got a coat sitting unused in the back of your closet, consider donating it to the New York Cares Coat Drive. The drive aids many New Yorkers who cannot afford to purchase a warm coat for the upcoming winter. The goal for this year’s drive is 100,000 coats, so they need your help!
Coats are being collected citywide through December 31 at any New York City Police Precinct. Our 70th Precinct is located at 154 Lawrence Ave, between Ocean Parkway and Seton Place.
This year’s Newport Folk Festival is just two months out. Today, tickets for an amazing Deer Tick hosted after party on Friday, Saturday and Sunday went on sale…and already sold out. Deer Tick will be curating three Newport Folk Fest after parties at the Newport Blues Cafe on July 27-29. According to the band’s publicist, […]
Festival season is officially kicking into high gear. This afternoon, Bonnaroo’s lineup schedule for the 4-day music and arts fest in Manchester, Tenn. was announced. In case you need a lineup refresher, one of the most notable acts *is (*IMHO) Fruit Bats – the band fronted by Eric D. Johnson that fell off the radar […]
Want to lose weight but not seeing results? You could be making one of these 3 biggest diet mistakes. In this video, licensed nutritionist Lisa Jubilee of Living Proof Nutrition/Fitness explains the 3 most common mistakes people make when trying to lose weight. Interested in trying our kickboxing program? Get 3 kickboxing classes and a … […]
Powerful Words is the name of our character development curriculum here at Urban Martial Arts. It’s designed by one of the nation’s leading childhood development experts, Dr. Robyn Silverman. Every month, we’ll focus on a different Powerful Word, or concept around character development. This month’s Powerful Word is TRUSTWORTHINESS. Here’s a video from Dr. R […]
Echinacea pallida, Pale Coneflower, growing in my urban backyard native plant garden. I was appalled to see the National Wildlife Federation publish on their Web site, without qualification or counter-point, a press piece by the "Brand Manager... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] […]
We wanted to make sure you knew about a Groupon of ours that just went live this morning. For $30, you get 4 kickboxing classes with a 40-minute personal training session, and a pair of free boxing gloves. or… For $50, you get 10 kickboxing classes with a 40-minute personal training session, and a pair … […]
Not only are there a few handfuls of awesome shows happening around the five boroughs this week, there’s a helluva lot goin’ on this weekend in the way of festivals. Basically, it’s going to be like Mardi Gras … minus the beads … and a lot of other things. First, it’s the 4th Annual Brooklyn […]
Now that THE LILY MAID is safely off to my agent, I’ve begun work on another project: relaunching this website. It’s a major project, frankly, and one which is overdue. The last time I redesigned the site was for the launch of DOOMED QUEENS. Since then, I’ve moved onto writing fiction, creating iPhone apps and […]
So many good shows this week, so little time. Justin Townes Earle is back in town, up-and-comers The Whiskey Collection hit Rockwood again, Jonathan Wilson and Jenny O do their thing, and the list goes on. Keepin’ it short and sweet, folks — check out the packed lineup below, and plan wisely! Monday, May 14 […]
