Last year's Family Day, courtesy of BrooklynQ
SHEEPSHEAD BITES IS GOING AND SO SHOULD YOU!
St. Marks is inviting the community to its annual Family Appreciation Day this Sunday, May 2.
This free secular event is an opportunity for residents to meet community groups from all around the neighborhood. It’s a celebration of Sheepshead Bay and the organizations that make it great.
Kicking off at 1:30 p.m. on the corner of East 18th Street and Avenue Z, there will be free lunch as well as raffles, games and rides for kids, and a magic show at 4:00 p.m. There will also be entertainment by Twilight Entertainment, O’Malley Step Dancers, T Kang Karate and more.
Meet your community groups like the Kingsbay Y, Sean Casey Animal Rescue Center, Bay Improvement Group, Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association and many others. Locally elected leaders, including Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz and State Senator Marty Golden, will be there.
Oh, and most important, Sheepshead Bites will be there with our own table, again giving away stickers and other goodies!
The event ends at 5:00 p.m. For information contact the St. Mark business office at (347) 274-0573.
It looks like our favorite graffiti artist, Red Fish Smoking, attended Grillin’ On The Bay at St. Marks. He got one of our stickers and stuck it to a wall in the school’s hallway and left his pointless signature all over it.
I was amused when a reader sent that in. But I was more amused when another reader submitted this:
I don’t know who did this, and since Sheepshead Bites doesn’t condone defacing public property, I’m not going to say how awesome I think it is. But in a very general sense – maybe pertaining to this situation, maybe not – revenge is sweet.
(Thanks to BrooklynQ and PayPaul.)
Courtesy of local broker
Reader local broker spotted this scene going down by West End Avenue and Oriental Boulevard in Manhattan Beach. We’re not quite sure what caused the light/telephone/electrical pole to fall, or if it damaged any property, but everything looks like it’s in capable hands now. The pole appears to have been sawed in half (with the top half lying at the fireman’s feet) to reduce the stress until they rip it out of the ground. Anyone with information on how this happened?
The stats from this week’s 19-or-so car break-in will be accounted for in the next CompStat report. Expect the ever narrowing gap in crime reduction to shrink even further.
CompStat reports are produced by the New York Police Department on a weekly basis. As a new feature on Sheepshead Bites, we’ll be summarizing the week’s statistics for the 61st Precinct as the reports become available (usually on Monday, one week after the closing date). The 61st Precinct is the police command responsible for Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Kings Highway, Homecrest, Madison, Manhattan Beach, and Gerritsen Beach.
The Lowe’s Home Improvement store behind Kings Plaza (and next to Home Depot) appears to be nearly done, at least from the outside. The parking lot still needs landscaping, and construction fencing still surrounds the property. But signs are – more or less – up, and we’ve heard there’s a “Help Wanted” sign somewhere (we didn’t see it ourselves).
Lowe’s representatives told Mill Basin Civic Association back in February that the store would be hiring around 250 sales associates and is slated to open in June or July (barring delays). According to an attendee of the civic meeting, the association was happy to welcome the new business, but showed concerns about traffic and parking. The store appears to have several hundred spots and is fitted with turning lanes in and out of the lot. Additionally, they’ve offered to let the community choose acceptable times to receive delivers from trucks, in response to questions about noise.
What do you think? Is Lowe’s a good fit for the neighborhood? And does it pose a threat to nearby Home Depot?
The would-be robber who opened fire on police Monday before ending his own life had a history of violence, including the 1993 kidnapping of a police officer, according to the Daily News.
Robert Rementaria was caught robbing a home on Quentin Road near East 36th Street. The 47-year-old career thug opened fire on a sergeant who happened to be passing by. The officer returned fire, striking Rementaria’s leg. He then turned the gun on himself.
But it wasn’t the crook’s first attempt to harm an officer of the law. Daily News describes an attempt to kidnap and kill a cop:
The kidnapping started with a traffic dispute between Rementaria’s former girlfriend and narcotics cop Albert Valdes, police said.
Rementaria and Vincent Ferrentino, 27, carjacked Valdes, struck him in the face with a handgun – and then drove him to a desolate area, where police said they planned to finish him off.
Valdes fought back. He managed to wrestle the gun away from the thugs and turned the tables, opening fire, killing Ferrentino and wounding Rementaria.
An autopsy performed on Rementaria yesterday found the bullet fired by Valdes still inside him, police said.
Valdes since has retired from the NYPD, according to Police Department spokesman Paul Browne.
Rementaria was released from prison in 2007 and quickly returned to what police said was a long life of crime.
Indeed, he had been arrested 17 times and incarcerated six times since 1978.
He was still on parole – until 2014 – when cops caught him up to his old ways Monday night.
Rementaria was carrying a police scanner and NYPD precinct maps when he broke into the Quentin Road home and took credit cards and cash.
But he wasn’t counting on running into an NYPD sergeant on the street, who ordered him to stop.
Rementaria ignored her orders and opened fire. The sergeant fired back, wounding him in the leg.
Moments later, Rementaria pulled his last trigger.
The sergeant, a 13-year veteran, was not hurt.
Following two severe accidents yesterday, including one that involved pedestrians, another accident happened at the same intersection. Manhattan Beach Community Group posted this item on their website:
After two accidents yesterday which involved up to 4 people going to the hospital, we have been notified that another accident has happened. This morning a motorcyclist exiting Kingsborough Community Hospital hit a car making a turn onto Mackenzie St. That is the same corner as the first accident from yesterday. The motorcyclist flew over the car and has been taken to Coney Island Hospital.
The weather is getting warmer and the younger people that visit our community are being tempted to speed. This must be addressed. The MBCG has been bringing up the dangerous situation on Oriental Blvd. for years and with urgency the last 6 months. This includes the zebra stripes, concrete planters and speeding. All accidents in the last 24 hours involved KCC students.
Can Kingsborough Community College do more to ensure safety along Oriental Boulevard? If so, what – and when will they take charge?
Courtesy of GerritsenBeach.net
Walgreens location #10064, also known as Bragg Street Walgreens (on Avenue U), is finally prepping to open their doors to clients.
Management told us back in February that they were set for a March opening. But after weeks of setbacks due to construction and specific retail permits, management delayed. And delayed. And delays… until now.
The store is slated to open the week of May 9, right after the Mother’s Day rush.
According to a Walgreens representative, the store should be receiving their merchandise and expense some time next week. The Bragg Street location has parking for 27 cars.
As the May 16 date of the 19th annual BayFest celebration approaches, organizers are getting together to put the finishing touches on the program…
… and they NEED YOUR HELP!
Bay Improvement Group, the people behind BayFest, has two final meetings scheduled just days before the festival. The meetings are on Tuesday, May 4, and Wednesday, May 12. BIG is looking for volunteers to help visitors enjoy and celebrate the Bay, from working behind tables to helping set up equipment, and being smiley representatives of our neighborhood. Though it’s not required to attend the meetings to be a volunteer, BIG is also hoping to hear your input on some last-minute details.
Now in its 19th year and completely free, Bayfest is an all-day celebration of Sheepshead Bay. Held along our piers, BayFest offers a festival of continuous music and fun to bring the community together and raise New Yorkers’ awareness of the treasure by the bay.
Among the festivities are live music, amusement rides, the historic Dreamland Bell, the Coney Island Hospital Bloodmobile, arts ‘n’ crafts, FDNY displays on land and sea, sailing demos, and raffles and giveaways.
Volunteers receive free t-shirts and food for their help. Not to mention the appreciation of thousands of attendees!
BayFest meetings will take place May 4 and May 12 at Golden Gate Inn (3867 Shore Parkway) at 8:00 p.m.
For more info on volunteering view the flier.
A shopping art in a sea of sand. (Photo courtesy of nolastname)
I wanted to be posted as one of those beautiful Wednesday Midweek Photos, while the author of this silly shopping cart feature insisted on putting me up on Thursday. So, who do you think won that argument? The one with the publishing power, that’s who. I’m telling you, I would trade my four wheels for a computer connected to the internet. Start my own site and put myself up any day and in any feature that I want!
Here’s my story. I’ve been living in Sheepshead Bay for a while, and seen quite a few new developments, condos, and homes in the style of the one seen behind me. This new construction (Avenue T and East 26 Street) is beautiful in its own way, but I really don’t know what’s up with all the sand. I mean, we live within walking distance of many sandy beaches, so why do we want this much sand on our front lawns?
Not that I don’t look near surrealistic with the soft tone of the dry concrete, sand, and painted stucco exteriors. The little bit of green grass desperately fighting for its life reminds us that Sheepshead Bay is this close to becoming a concrete wasteland. You might not think this is so important now, but next time when there’s excessive rainfall with no soil to absorb some of that runoff, you’ll remember this silly shopping cart.
Well, now that I got this important message about flooding and storm water runoff, I do feel a little better about being here on Thursday, ‘cuz I guess there wouldn’t have been much chance to say all this stuff in the Midweek Photo. What do you think?
