One Muslim family in Sheepshead Bay has posted a festive sign wishing us all a Happy Eid. So, we would like to extend this Eid Mubarak message to our readers.
Those of you who forgot to move the car in time for the today’s alternate side of the street parking, but were pleasantly surprised to find that you didn’t get a ticket — you have this Islamic holiday to thank!
You can check the dates and specifics for Eid al-Adha and other holidays at About.com.
Emergency services, including firefighters and police emergency response units, flooded Nostrand Avenue between Avenue T and Avenue U today at 12:45 p.m. According to Gothamist Newsmap, they’re responding to a “Barricaded EDP” (emotionally disturbed person) call at 3302 Nostrand Avenue. Meanwhile other units were opening and testing every fire hydrant on the block.
We’ll update this story as more information becomes available. If you know anything, please e-mail us.
The ad below appeared on Craigslist Thanksgiving afternoon. It got us wondering which restaurant this could be.
RESTAURANT FOR SALE
Restaurant for Sale in the heart of Sheepshead Bay.
Seats 70. Full Kitchen.
Backyard with a lot of possibilities.
Low Rent and Long Lease.
We’re thinking it may be the New Clements Diner storefront, which closed back in August. At the time it was suggested the neighbors at Forces of Nature might expand, but nothing seems to have happened.
The ad has a number that we’ll call for details next week. But until then, I thought we’d play a game. Let’s guess the restaurant and the asking rent price!
We’re all workers, here, at the Pomegranate Supermarket in Midwood (1507 Coney Island Avenue).
When the store first opened up to critical acclaim, the first customers lamented about the high prices, the lack of cheddar cheese, and no place to park their cars.
Less than a year later, at the Brooklyn Blogfest, outside.in reported that Pomegranate Market was one of the most searched terms in the local cybersphere. We’re really not sure why everyone was so interested in our workplace. Yeah, sure they have nice, smooth floors, but everything else is just like Super Stop and Shop over in Sheepshead Bay, except it’s all kosher.
When the parking lot was not ready for the many moneyed folks who just could not see themselves pushing one of those pedestrian carts with their groceries piled high, many stayed away due to the lack of street parking. Now, well-dressed Pomegranate customers arrive in their large, shiny cars, stop at the gate, with traffic all backed up, and hand over their keys to the valet. Yes, you heard me right. The valet!
So, this is what makes Pomegranate Supermarket a cut above the rest, not the food, the service, or the way the treat their shopping carts — it’s the valet parking lot!
The parking lot is too small to hold us humble, unengined 4-wheelers, so when the fancy customers unload their goods and get into their cars, they discard us shopping carts anywhere they so desire. Just the other day, I nearly had a heart attack when the most loyal shopping cart friend I’ve ever known, “Good Gray”, was left out on the street and he got hit by a minivan.
We all stood vigil for “Good Gray”, hoping and praying that he would make it through. That night all of us vowed that whatever happens, we would hold them all responsible for our poor friend’s demise.
The next morning, when “Good Gray” opened his eyes and said his first words, “I’m telling you, I crossed over to the other side. I kept seeing the light of two silverly moons. That’s what kept me going.” We were so happy just to see him conscious, we didn’t have the heart to tell him that the light he saw was just his double vision of the lamppost. But, who are we to say, anyway? The poor cart crossed over to the other side and made his way back.
So, we just have one thing to say to you, Pomegranate Supermarket: the next time you see scratches on those cars in your valet parking lot, remember the story of “Good Gray”. Maybe, then, you’ll remember that the sidewalks are for people to walk on, not for risking the lives of shopping carts.
When Sheepshead Bites first launched in May 2008, it started on a lark. After freelancing for the community papers after college, Ned Berke went into stale world of trade journalism. So he started this site on the side to continue doing what he loved most: reporting on the community he was born and raised in. He never expected an audience to listen.
But now – nearly a year and a half later - Sheepshead Bites has a lot to be thankful for. Because of our amazing readers, our tireless writers, and our (sometimes) supportive sources, we’re blazing a trail to build community ties and raise the profile of Sheepshead Bay.
Our stories have been picked up by borough and city press, including the New York Times, New York Post, Daily News, New York Observer, Real Deal, New York Magazine, Courier Life, News 12, Bay Currents, Brooklyn Paper, Curbed, Gothamist, Brownstoner… and on and on and on.
Although they don’t always attribute Sheepshead Bites, that’s not what matters. We don’t do it for them, and we certainly don’t do it for the fame and fortune. We do it to put Sheepshead Bay back on the map, and put a spotlight on both the good and the bad of our community. We do it to get things acknowledged, and we do it to get things fixed. So, to those outlets that have helped spread the word of Sheepshead Bay, we’re thankful.
But that’s just a small part of what we’re thankful for. Sheepshead Bites has exploded since its relaunch in July. From just a few thousand readers a month, we now see tens of thousands. The number of people commenting has skyrocketed, and new names appear every day. We get more tips than ever, and are seeing more recognition from sources. Sheepshead Bay’s stories have gone viral on Facebook and Twitter, and for once it seems like an online community supporting the geographical one is becoming a reality. For that, we’re very thankful.
But thankful to whom? The answer is predictable, but no less notable. We’re thankful to you, our readers, for continuing to support the site with your visits and your comments and your tips. We’re thankful you’ve told your friends and your neighbors. And we’re thankful that you’ve helped us prove that yes, there really is a community of people that care about this neighborhood and want to see it grow and thrive.
So, thank you. Sheepshead Bites’ success, and the increasing power of the community’s voice, is because of you. Thank you for reading, and thank you for giving a damn.
A few things the people behind Sheepshead Bites are thankful for:
Ray Johnson, Associate Editor: “With all of my negative noticings and talk about littering and pollution, I’m still thankful to be living in Sheepshead Bay. I’m also thankful that I still have some family who live nearby and who still invite me over for dinners, despite my newfound life as a blogger.”
Arthur Borko, Writer: “I’m thankful to actually have a job. There are so many people out there that can’t provide for themselves or their families anymore and I’m at least able to pay my bills, even if it’s by the skin of my teeth. Secondly, I’m thankful to Sheepshead Bites for bringing me on as a writer. I stumbled upon Sheepshead Bites this summer and I was elated to read it and comment but it feels that much better being a part of it. Lastly, I’m thankful for trying BrooklynQ’s chicken. Wow, that was some good chicken!”
Samantha LoSapio, Writer: “I am thankful that Arbuz is far enough away from my apartment so that I don’t gain 25lbs this holiday season. I’m thankful that I don’t ever have to take the B4 ever again. I’m thankful for the lovely apartment I found in this beautiful neighborhood, and of course family, friends, health, and all that jazz.”
Daniel Gershburg, Esq., Real Estate Columnist: “This year I am thankful that banks decided to give my clients money to purchase homes again. I am thankful for the opportunity to help clients in my community. I am also thankful for the fact that no new sushi places have been opened this year on Sheepshead Bay Road.”
Ned Berke, Editor-in-Chief: “I’m thankful for the great community that has popped up around Sheepshead Bites. We’re small, but we’re growing – as is our voice. I’m especially thankful to all the great writers who volunteer their time and effort every day to submit content. Their views, their styles, and their voices are bringing a whole new dynamic and fueling our growth. I’m thankful to the businesses who support us through advertising, and to the community leaders working to build a better neighborhood. As a special mention, I’m thankful to Ray Johnson, who has been with the site since the early days; who has given a lot of her time for very little back; and who’s endless patience with me is entirely flabbergasting.”
Now it’s your turn. What are you thankful for this year?
Carlo Fodera, a.k.a. Coney Island Carlo, is taking tattooing global in a new reality television show, Tattoo Masters Worldwide.
“Over the last couple of years I’ve been watching these reality shows on tattooing,” Fodera said in a trailer for the series. “There’s so much more to the tattoo world. There’s so many different venues, and so many different types of tattooing.”
From a new Gravesend location at 66 Avenue U, Fodera is launching a competition to showcase the explosive dynamism of contemporary tattooing. The new storefront is next door to one of his existing parlors, Studio Enigma. Fodera owns 10 shops in the five boroughs, and according to the website is responsible for about half the tattooing done daily in New York City. Continue Reading »
Last week, when the identity of lower Manhattan’s Sad Panda was revealed in documentarian Michelle Tay’s video, it reminded us of hungry pandas and our local panda food supply. Most of you may know that the black-and-white bears like to eat the shoots, leaves, and crunchy stalks of bamboo plants and in Sheepshead Bay, we appear to have our very own supply.
It’s not the first time that we’ve been reminded of pandas and bamboo. This January, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington. D.C. said that their resident pandas’ food supply of fresh bamboo was dangerously low, and they issued a request for bamboo from private supplies. At the time, we almost called the zoo to alert them to all the bamboo at the intersection of Avenue X and East 16th Street. Continue Reading »
In the 18th Century, Samuel Johnson said, “If you are idle, be not solitary” – and with those words, as if by magic, the New York State Senate was established; and a whole lot of otherwise idle men were grouped together, to be idle, but not solitary.
With the state facing a $3.2 billion budget gap, little has been accomplished except a continuous ticking-off-the-list of things we can’t do to fix the budget. Why can’t we do them? It’s this senator’s pet project, or that senator’s constituency (or, perhaps, campaign contributor). Meanwhile, New York State is just days away from declaring bankruptcy.
And who’s leading the shenanigans? Sheepshead Bay State Senator Carl Kruger. Continue Reading »
“The damage doesn’t stop the ride completely, but if something isn’t done to fix this problem, the issue won’t be a missing bike path – it will be a missing Belt Parkway. Just another 20 feet or so and the cars will fall into the water,” said a cyclist who frequently uses the path.
Related stories:
Hurricane Ida Batters Plumb Beach
Plumb Beach Destruction Goes Beyond Bike Path
Shore Parkway Greenway Honored By Daily News
Courier-Life is reporting that FDNY officials regard the fire at Loehmann’s Seaport Plaza as “suspicious” and possibly arson:
The early-morning fire that ate through a Loehmann’s Seaport Plaza restaurant may have been arson, FDNY officials said this week.
An FDNY spokesman said that fire marshals are treating the fire at XO Creperie, 2027 Emmons Avenue, as “suspicious” as they try to determine how the blaze was sparked.
Firefighters were called to the restaurant at 5:30 a.m. on November 21 after the flames triggered a fire alarm inside the restaurant, officials said. The blaze was put out within 50 minutes.
No one was inside the eatery when the fire broke out, although a firefighter suffered a strained shoulder as he doused the blaze.
