“I must have flowers, always, and always.” ― Claude Monet
Photo by James Cope
Photo: http://www.farah.net.au/
This just in from the National Weather Service…
Notification issued on 5/23/13 at 3:30 PM. The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Warning citywide until 5:30 PM. Excessive runoff from heavy rainfall will cause flooding of urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as other drainage areas and low lying spots. Do not drive your vehicle into areas where the water covers the roadway. The water depth may be too great to allow your car to cross safely. Move to higher ground.
Looks like we’re in for it again. Has your street changed since Superstorm Sandy? Does Sheepshead Bay and our surrounding communities have new flood zones? Does your yard or street flood more often now since Sandy? Let us know. Send pictures and tips to tips@ sheepsheadbites (dot) com.
Source: Gregory Maizous
A Coney Island Hospital doctor was honored for her leadership in helping advance the cause of the public hospital system.
Olga Golubovskaya, an MD and an associate chair of Rehabilitation Medicine at Coney Island Hospital (2601 Ocean Parkway), was one of eight Brooklyn doctors and 28 city doctors overall to receive a Doctors’ Day award. Issued by the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), the award recognizes doctors for their leadership and commitment to advancing the mission of the public hospital system and providing the highest quality healthcare to New Yorkers.
Dr. Golubovskaya, and the other doctors were given high praise by HHC President Alan D. Aviles.
“The physicians we honor on this Doctors’ Day are vital to the well-being of our city. They are helping to make HHC a national model of safe, efficient, and patient-centered health care delivery and care deeply about our mission to serve New Yorkers regardless of their ability to pay or immigration status,” Aviles said.
Congratulations to Dr. Golubovskaya and all the other winners for their excellent service and their recognition. Keep up the good work!
Photo Courtesy of E. Manclark
The salt marsh around Jamaica Bay is disappearing and your help is needed. The American Littoral Society is calling for volunteers to help restore the salt marsh, which is vanishing at a rate of 40 acres per year.
Since 1924, 1,400 acres of tidal salt marsh has already been lost and if efforts aren’t made to conserve and restore it, the environment of Jamaica Bay will change radically.
Salt marsh is instrumental in providing a buffer from storms to the surrounding Jamaica Bay community. The marsh also improves the water quality of the bay helps preserve the habitat and breeding grounds for birds and fish.
The event will cover three days.
- May 25, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
- May 26, 12 p.m.-4 p.m.
- June 2, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
To sign up for the event and get more information on the project you can visit http://restoremarshes.eventbrite.com.
A spate of business reopenings in the last few weeks has seen some key shopping and eating destinations return to Sheepshead Bay for the first time since Superstorm Sandy. In contrast to recent news reports that have said as many as 40 percent of Sheepshead Bay businesses remain closed, the vast majority of businesses on Sheepshead Bay Road and Emmons Avenue are now open, sending a clear message to would-be visitors: Sheepshead Bay is open for business.
Here’s a rundown, in photos, of the latest businesses to reopen, some newcomers altogether, and what we’re still waiting for.
Loans available by gold bars or check…just kidding. (Source: Angico Eagle Mines Limited via Wikimedia Commons)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the City of New York are providing small businesses with disaster recovery loans. According to a press release, the city, through federal Community Development Block Grants, will by distributing $293 million in loans for the purposes of business recovery.
Small businesses that experienced damage as a result of Superstorm Sandy and can demonstrate that you can repay the loan, will be eligible for up to $150,000 in loans. They will have a one percent interest rate and must be repaid in five to seven years. Businesses who get their loans approved also are eligible for a matching grant up to $60,000.
The program will be administered by the New York City Department of Small Business Services and the New York Business Development Corporation.
Here is a list of relevant links that will help you apply for the loan and give you more information on the program.
Please see the NYC Hurricane Sandy Loan & Grant Program Core application. Once complete, please contact an account manager at one of the local NYC Business Solutions centers to submit your application. For more information, please see our Loan and Grant Program FAQs and Document Checklist.
For more information about this important loan and grant resource, follow the link below:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/nycbiz/html/home/home.shtml
And a consolidated list of resources available to businesses is always located here:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/nycbiz/html/home/Hurricane%20Sandy%20Recovery%20Services.shtml
A new program for residents affected by Sandy will launch next month. We’ll have details then.
(Source: NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation
UPDATE (5/23/2013 @ 11:15 a.m.): Sorry beach goers, the new Coney Island and Brighton Beach modular comfort stations won’t be finished by Memorial Day. According to a report by the New York Daily News, the new stations won’t be ready for this weekend and temporary toilets will be put in place instead.
The futuristic Coney Island and Brighton Beach bathrooms are almost in place as workers from the New York City Parks Department finish their work this week.
The new stations, which cost $1.5 million each, have brought anger from residents of the Oceana luxury condominiums (50 Oceana Drive West) who are upset that the new bathrooms disrupt their ocean view.
Despite their protests, Parks Department officials insist that the bathrooms are necessary to handle the huge crowds of people who visit the beaches of Coney Island every year.
Anywho, does that ramp on the left, leading to that RV-in-the-sky, look a little steep? We’ll have to get over there and see what these things are like first-hand.
On the turf of former State Senator Carl Kruger and embattled State Senator John Sampson, U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch came before a group of concerned citizens with a message: don’t despair, not everyone is corrupt, be you must be active and involved to ensure the best from your elected leaders.
Madison Marine Homecrest Civic Association hosted the event on Thursday, May 16, inviting Lynch to the Carmine Carro Community Center in Marine Park to talk about the recent cases. Lynch’s appearance came amid scandalous headlines involving Sampson who’s at the center of a handful of federal probes, and less than two years after the arrest and resignation of Kruger. Both represented portions of Marine Park.
The entire 40-minute talk by Lynch, which included questions from the audience, is posted above. But, aside from Sheepshead Bites, a slew of other reporters were at the event. Here’s what some of them wrote:
From Newsday:
Don’t “succumb to cynicism and apathy. Don’t give up — stay committed,” said Lynch, who is the chief federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, which also includes, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island.
“Stay involved . . . Don’t give up.”
… When the audience was asked how many of them believed all politicians are corrupt, nearly everyone in attendance raised a hand.
Lynch told the audience, “We have to take back the system from the people who trampled on it. I don’t own it, you own it.”
From the Brooklyn Eagle:
Lynch took that message a step further when she said that not only should people not give up on the political process, but also that their participation is necessary.
… U.S. Attorney Lynch stated that apathy hurts the democratic process and that – along with wiretaps, undercover officers, and witnesses using recording devices – ordinary citizens who notice inconsistencies often play a big role in bringing corrupt politicians down.
“We are all enforcers,” Lynch said. “We all play a role. People need to get involved. ‘See something, say something’ is not just a slogan for the subway.”
Lynch also cautioned people to be patient in corruption cases and warned that just because somebody’s name is brought into the mix doesn’t necessarily mean they are corrupt.
“There can often be names that come out that should not have come out because, especially early on in an investigation, it’s impossible to determine their involvement and often it just tars their names,” she said.
Political reporters converged on Lynch after the event, asking her about recent allegations from minority lawmakers that the feds, including Lynch, were unfairly targeting elected officials of color. Lynch, herself an African-American who began her career working in civil rights, denied the charges.
From the Eagle:
When Lynch was questioned about whether black politicians are unfairly targeted, she replied, “Not stealing money is not a high standard. We look at the behavior of everyone. Our goal is to protect communities. You deserve integrity regardless of what your background is.”
And from Politicker:
When Lynch was questioned about whether black politicians are unfairly targeted, she replied, “Not stealing money is not a high standard. We look at the behavior of everyone. Our goal is to protect communities. You deserve integrity regardless of what your background is.”
… “No matter what type of case we prosecute, people who may feel targeted are concerned and make all kinds of statements about it,” Ms. Lynch said. “It’s part of the problem of public corruption that it really almost makes everyone look as if they’re involved, even if they’re not. And so you have people get very paranoid and very nervous and feel as if they’re under a microscope … We don’t go around targeting people other than those that we strongly have evidence [against], but I think what happens is, the atmosphere is very toxic, for lack of a better word, and it does affect people and that’s a byproduct of these cases,” she said.
A slew of local elected officials, including Councilman Lew Fidler and Assemblymembers Helene Weinstein and Alan Maisel, spoke before Lynch, and used it as an opportunity to remind attendees that the recent headlines reflect a few “bad apples.” They also touted anti-corruption legislation they’re working on, including disallowing lawmakers from using campaign funds on legal fees, and the ability to strip convicted legislators of their pension.
You can see their remarks here:
Participants in this year’s Autism Walk.
When the Southern Brooklyn community wants to raise awareness for a good cause, they know how to do it – even in stormy weather.
On Sunday, May 19, approximately 170 Southern Brooklyn locals gathered at the New York Aquarium to walk 1.2 miles of the boardwalk to Coney Island Avenue. Together, they marched until Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton Beach to raise awareness for autism.
Lilach Koch, the Special Needs Program director at the Shorefront Y, said that walks like this are vital to create greater knowledge and education about autism, as well as raise funds.
“This will create a community that recognizes and accepts individuals with autism and supports their families,” Koch said.
The three main goals of the walk? To educate, to recognize, and to gain support for the programs for disabilities.
“It’s important that the leaders of the community understand that it’s a great cause. We are here. We need your support. These programs are scarce,” Koch said.
Two other local Jewish Community Centers – the JCH of Bensonhurst and Kings Bay Y – collaborated on the effort.
Autism is a developmental disorder of brain function. Characteristics typically include impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and non-verbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests.
According to AutismSpeaks.org, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify 1 in 88 American children on the autism spectrum. Statistically, there are more children affected by autism than diabetes, cerebral palsy, or Down syndrome combined.
The event saw well known community figures like Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and a host of community volunteers.
“Our mission is to strengthen the skills of our clients and support them and their families from early childhood to adulthood. We believe in our developmentally disabled clients and direct them to become more independent, functional and happy individuals,” Koch added.
Koch explained that many of these programs are free to the community, and that Southern Brooklyn families cannot afford many of the more expensive options available.
“We do understand our families’ needs on both the practical and emotional levels, and we constantly seek for channels to provide families with as many free and low cost services and programs as possible,” said Koch.
Karreell Pereira, a Shorefront Y member, visits the community center weekly with her husband and young boys. Her two sons, age seven and eight, were at the event as well, supporting after-school classmates.
“It means a lot to me, being around other parents. It opens my eyes. It shows me how other parents operate, and shows me how blessed I am,” Pereira said. “We are capable of making a drastic change. These programs need to be nourished and should be promoted.”
“They love it here,” she said. “It opens their eyes to what’s really going on in our community. It helps you see not only your situation, but other people’s situations.”
Currently, the Shorefront Y offers free after-school programs for children ages 5 to 13, a Sunday Funday social skills recreational program for children ages 5 to 12, and a series of other educational workshops for parents and families. They hope to support families in need.
Michelle Pisani-Hinojo said that rain or shine, she will support this walk for years to come. Her 11-year-old daughter, Amber, has autism.
“The weather put a damper on the event, but not on the spirit. It makes me feel like I’m not alone. The public is becoming aware. It feels good that people are willing to work together for awareness,” Pisani-Hinojo said.
“It’s symbolic, you know? Some days will be sunny days, and other day’s it’ll rain,” Pisani-Hinojo said. “Even on the bad days, you need to stay strong and still be supportive. We can’t give up.”
