This is awesome. From the Daily News: Palm Beach Home for Adults stages 'Senior Idol' competition.

When the six finalists were done, Olga Kraus, 90, an operatic soprano and winner of last year's competition, entertained residents with "The Man I Love."

Like others at the home, Kraus said she had no professional experience.

"I did try out once for the Ted Mack Amateur Hour," she said, "but I just couldn't get the quiver out of my voice."

Thank goodness no one tried any Jay-Z, lest someone needs to call the doctor... and no, I'm not talking about Dre.

Oh, and congratulations to the winner, Jerry Abramowitz, 79, a retired hospital worker, who "wowed the audience, and especially his wife, Estelle, with 'Mona Lisa.'"

The Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association has been doing some great work to bring the community a new green space. The Brigham Street Park Project is a community initiative to build a park on Emmons Ave. and Brigham Street in the currently ugly, vacant lot next to the Windjammer hotel and along the water. They've already secured grants and permission to do the park, and have also found two architects to help build it - one from nearby Gerritsen Beach. Now SBPB is opening up the planning for community input, with an online survey to make sure the park meets residents' recreational interests, asking questions about activities, safety and usage. The survey is short, quick and simple. Please take the time to make sure the park is the best it can be. CLICK HERE.

In the largest Sheepshead Bay real estate deal of the last twenty years, Loehmann's Seaport Plaza on Emmons Ave. has reportedly been sold for approximately $24 million.

The three-story, 280,000 square foot retail center closed on Friday, with its former owner, the Bayrock Group, selling to a still unknown buyer. A source with knowledge of the deal provided the sale price of $24 million, but that number is still unconfirmed. He also said the buyer is a local Russian businessman.

Observers of Sheepshead Bay real estate transactions are surprised by the deal, as the property was not known to be on the market. However, Bayrock Group may have been happy to unload the property when approached by the mystery buyer, given that the group probably has its hands full with the beleagured Trump SoHo Hotel Condominium, which it is developing alongside the Trump Organization and the Sapir Organization. The site has recently been plagued by a number or controversies, including a lethal construction accident, accusations of misleading the public towards its final use, and mob ties. Of course, the mobster accusation is a given, considering one of Bayrock's own principals was revealed to have quite a shady past.

The Loehmann's Seaport Plaza deal marks the second largest sale in Sheepshead Bay history, coming just $1 million shy of breaking the record set in 1988, when the Atlantic Towers Apartment Corp. on Ave. Z and East 13th street was sold for $25 million. It's also notable for being the second record-breaking deal in less than a year; the first being last November's sale of the site at 1600 Sheepshead Bay Road and 1501 Voorhies Avenue for an all-cash transaction valued at more than $20 million. This means that two of the three largest deals in Sheepshead Bay history were ushered in within the last 8 months.

Tenants of the Loehmann's building are still unsure of the identity of the new owner, but expect to receive that information within the next two to three days.

(Stephen Jemal assumes the position for a Daily News writer. -Courtesy of Daily News)

Daily News recently published a piece on developer Stephen S. Jemal, "the man who made Nobody Beats the Wiz electronic stores the 13th most recognizable brand in the United States", and also the guy behind the three Riviera developments in southern Brooklyn. All I've got to say is, holy crap - what the hell, Daily News?! The story is so flattering to Jemal and his developments, a full-fledged bow-down we're-not-worthy ass-kissing, that I really have to wonder if Daily News is priming its real estate pages for some sweet advertising from Jemal's company, SSJ Development, and its Riviera brand.

First up, there's this really ridiculous lead: "This is the biggest real estate vision the South Brooklyn waterfront may ever see." Really? Are we talking about the same waterfront that once was called Brooklyn's Gold Coast, and saw such massive "visions" realized as the Coney Island Jockey Club, the Sheepshead Bay Speedway, the Manhattan Beach Hotel, the Oriental Hotel - and that's just in the Bay, not the rest of the South Brooklyn waterfront. Jemal might be doing sizable deals, but he's no Austin Corbin.

Then there's the real heart-warming parts of the article - Jemal boating around the coast like some modern day adventurer - or conquistador - and picking out his future prizes; or his efforts to "give back" to the community by simply working within established zoning laws:

"I consider this waterfront cleansing to be community service," says Jemal, who handled real estate development for the Wiz. "In some of these areas, you can approach from a car and hit a dead end and have no idea water is even there." [Apparently, driving up to a condo's wall screams 'WATER!' - SB]

When it comes to cost, Jemal thinks he also gives back to the community. His projects in Sheepshead Bay, Mill Basin and Gerritsen Beach, totaling almost 500 units, will be built in the same height scale as the rest of the neighborhood and will be sold for prices he hopes are affordable to the neighborhood's middle class.

The article goes on to call him a "genius", to drool over the boat slips, idealize his environmental cleanups, glow about his "passion", wax poetic on his personal and home life, and so forth. Even the photo seems to say, "Sure, I may look like Skeletor, but don't you want to reach into my unbuttoned shirt?" This may be assuming too much, but the come-hither, leg up position may have been an invitation, presumably accepted, for the Daily News writer.

Let me pause for a second, before things get really heated. I'm no development naysayer. I have nothing against Jemal. In fact, I know surprisingly little about his work, and from what I read of his plans, they're not nearly as terrible, destructive or garish as some of the other work going on in the area. My problem here is with the Daily News. To the residents of Brooklyn's southern coast, development is one of the top issues. It's not to be taken lightly. But, unfortunately, the press too often serves as the number one cheerleader for the developers.

As for Jemal himself, we already know some of the concerns with his plans. Almost all are still to be resolved, and I wish the Daily News had taken the opportunity to confront the developer about them. But the only criticism in the article itself came from CB15 chairperson Theresa Scavo, whose name they spelled wrong, and whose concerns about site cleanup were dismissed by a quote from the developer. Some extra consideration by the reporter or editor would've been nice here.

So, Daily News, why don't we take off the skirt and pompoms, and please - PLEASE - ask some hard questions of this guy and his ilk.

Sorry for the long delay, but I've been pretty busy working on a few things for the site and elsewhere. For starters, I'll have an article in the next edition of the Bay Currents, with my analysis of the situation in Coney Island. The gist of the article is that the conflict in Coney Island isn't just about about the future of an amusement area, it's a last battleground in the "development" of coastal Brooklyn. Aside from that, there are a few deals in the works for the site that will be announced later. Thanks for your patience!

We noted a few weeks ago that renovation of the Lundy's space is underway; now we're happy to bring you confirmation of the new tenant.

And the business that will be operating in the iconic building is... [cue drumroll]... Cherry Hill Gourmet Market, a local food market with a storefront currently on 2278 86th St, between Bay 32st street and 23rd Ave. in Bensonhurst/Bath Beach. It is expected that Cherry Hill-Lundy's will open its doors in the next 2 to 3 months.

(Cherry Hill Market in Bensonhurst/Bath Beach)

Read on after the jump to see some of the business' plans for the space, as well as reviews of its current storefront.

Read more »

Above are several more shots of the view stolen by the owners of the Breakers, a development on Ford Street and Emmons Avenue. As most of you already know, the development has installed a gate, locking out the community members who've lived here for years and have longed for increased waterfront access. These shots were taken back in April, when I wandered into the construction site to get some pictures from the pier (with a rather cruddy camera).

The most amusing part of this architectural monstrosity wasn't just those ugly cresting waves on top of its otherwise blank walls, it's the shells that you see littered across the "boardwalk". The shells were everywhere in the development - on the pier, in the driveway, and on the roofs. They come from birds that pick up clams and drop them - normally on rocks - to break apart and eat. But the birds have taken a liking to using these buildings - apparently not thinking much of them other than another hard piece of crap jutting out of the water. For those of you Breaker-haters, what this means is people are paying out the nose to live in these "luxury" apartments, but will have to deal with early-morning ping-ping-pangs of birds who don't give much of a damn about their roofs, their sleep, or their cars. This is not to mention that they'll be tracking the chalky crap into their homes everyday. That oughta warm your hearts.

For those of you who are interested, I also wandered around the insides of the smaller building, which isn't as finished as the other ones. My impressions were... well, not very impressed. The rooms were small and cramped even without furniture, and there were some really odd architectural decisions made on where to put pretty basic things like, um, stairs. In some of the units it really ate up square-footage, leaving certain floorspace pretty much unusable.

I for one am not an anti-condo person, and think some of the buildings coming to the area are interesting. But the units I looked at, well, they sucked, and I sure wouldn't spend a dime on them.