• Grillin On The Bay - March 27, 2010

Bassett Deli Contends With Tickets


by Arthur Borko on Oct 5th, 2009

Bassetts Deli in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

Bassett Deli and Caterers on Avenue X and East 14th Street is a Sheepshead Bay institution and community favorite. A community they’ve been serving for many years. However there’s a problem, one that rears it’s ugly head every week on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m: alternate side of the street parking.

Owner Frank Bassett says business dies down like clockwork as the rule takes effect during what would be their busy lunch rush. To make matters worse, the sign warning drivers that they can’t park there is completely obscured by a “Stop Ahead” sign. When asked about its placement, Bassett exclaimed, “It’s a nightmare!”

Bassetts Deli in Sheepshead Bay, BrooklynBassett Deli made requests with the Department of Sanitation to change the placement of the signs in the past, but pleas for help fell on deaf ears. Bassett says predatory traffic officers routinely come and lie in wait for an oblivious customer to make a mistake and park there, hurting the famed business and local residents, too. In order to help his clientèle, Bassett puts out their own custom sign on Wednesdays to warn of the impending danger.

Meanwhile, the “Stop Sign Ahead” sign seems totally unnecessary. That particular block is very short, and the stop signs are clearly visible from as far as two blocks away. One of our local pol’s should look into the matter and help a local business out. The best we could hope for is a rescheduling of the street sweeping to a less intrusive time slot, and at least the Department of Transportation can switch the placement of the two signs so the street cleaning notice is clearly visible to all drivers. Just in case I’ll be returning to the spot on Monday and using the city’s new 311 iPhone-app to file a complaint that way.

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  • Vito Goldberg
    I like Bassett, but their Turkey Breast has suddenly gone down hill, these past couple of months! What gives?
  • LOL, it came up in new business. Flyers go out with a meeting theme to members and elected officials. I'll put printing agendas into the suggestion box for you, Ned.
  • Nice to watch me speak? Hardly. I should've just watched you screw up and then blogged about it.

    Arthur: I have never seen an SBPB agenda. If you see one, call me immediately and try to trap it in a corner. They run pretty wild.
  • Wow. I'm not sure what to say that's really awesome. Ned you coulda told me it was on the agenda, or called me if they needed someone to speak about it, maybe I woulda driven over! I love being the center of attention.
  • Duly noted. It's all my fault. I was screwing up speaking about it and you saved me. Thanks, I owe you one.

    But I gotta say, it was nice to turn the tables and watch you speak with me in the crowd!
  • FYI: Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association discussed the issue tonight and is looking into it. Unfortunately, they made me speak to explain it a bit. Even worse, they made me use a microphone. I hearby give public notice that - from now on - I attend meetings to report on them, NOT to speak about issues.
  • Yeah, come to think of it I've seen it too. But they run up and down Neck Road constantly looking for meter cheaters.
  • clare
    I was there a few months ago and Traffic cops were writing tickets.
    They were on foot.
  • Dave Z
    BTW, Great article Arthur!
  • Dave Z
    The cops have been doing this for years, only they mostly did it in front of Bagel Boy when it used to be on Ocean Ave. These cops sit there through their whole shift and just wait to ticket people so they can meet their quota and not have to do shit! I mean why fight crime when you can sit in front of a popular eatery and ticket hungry people!
  • Ray Johnson
    Wow! For a minute there, I thought I had written this article -- complete with punctuation shrugs ;-) -- and then somehow blacked out and forgotten. Congrats to Arthur for your first post, here and for the linkback on Brooklyn the Borough (on your first post!!!!!!) and to Ned for getting you on board.

    Bassett has been doing such a great job catering all these years, it's easy to assume that business would never suffer. Thanks for raising our awareness about this situation.

    Clare, we will have look into your inquiry regarding the parking spots across the street.
  • clare
    Thanx for explaining, I still like the article.
  • Aww shucks. Thanks.
  • Arthur, it's a well-written piece of journalism. And all journalism has importance. That's why we have neighborhood newspapers, and now blogs.
  • Now that we know what it is, it's quite useful.
  • I'm cool with it. :-D
    I posted over there asking why she didn't link the "other" thread as news.

    While I'm proud of my little bit of Journalism it doesn't compare to the political debate in the slightest!
  • Yup, happens automatically. Though most sites turn it off - which is a little annoying because it's a good tool for cross referencing. If you, my wonderful readers, find it confusing/annoying, then I can make some alterations to separate the comments from those, which are called pingbacks. Yay or nay?
  • I think thats another blog using wordpress or whatever system Ned uses. They linked to this journal entry and it automatically makes a link appear to the place it was linked.

    It happens all the time when Ned links to older articles but I thought he did that on purpose. It must happen automatically.
  • clare
    WHAT THE HELL?
  • I see police officers going in constantly for food. I suppose its a approved location for them to eat.

    I also see at times 5 or so UPS trucks parked there. Must be an approved location for therm as well.

    It's a block with little through traffic as Avenue X is cut off by now defunct LIRR crossunder.. So there is no imperative need for traffic enforcement to be all that interested. Except for the fact that Bassett's does have a lot of in-out business.

    In the back is a parking lot, Seems like they could allow some public use during alternative side hours. NO UPS trucks, though.
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