SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Courtesy of Daily News

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has signed a five-year lease on 3157 Coney Island Avenue, after a fierce battle with the landlord to keep the Brighton Beach Post Office branch open.

The agreement caps an almost year long fight in which the new landlord attempted to jack up rent in excess of 30 percent of market value. According to the Brooklyn Eagle, Congressmen Jerrold Nadler and Anthony Weiner, and City Councilman Michael Nelson, joined the fight when their Brighton Beach constituents expressed outrage that the neighborhood’s only local office would close.

“Losing such an important neighborhood asset would have been unacceptable, as this is the only post office in Brighton Beach,” Weiner told Brooklyn Eagle. “The outspoken members of this community rallied to prevent this closure, and they deserve a great deal of credit for helping to avert what surely would have been a severe blow to those who live and do business in Brighton Beach.”

Reader nolastname was wandering about yesterday morning, and watched as the beautiful weather kicked off with an awesome sunrise. She saw this crane at work in the Marine Park Salt Marsh. Snazzy…

Garbage overflows regularly at public trash cans. (Photo by Ray Johnson, two weeks before the storm.)

The storm has caused so much destruction, sending boats, trees and their limbs, signs, and houses crashing to the ground. But it’s not just the trees that got whipped in the wind. Garbage like this gets blown onto the streets by the strong winds, just as well.

Sheepshead Bay, we have a major cleanup to do. Let’s hurry and clean up our act before our streets become one big trash heap.

177 MacKenzie after it was fully demolished Monday afternoon (Photo by Ray Johnson)

Leland Bodenmiller, his wife, and their three children are breathing much easier, as the Department of Buildings granted a quick 20-minute reprieve to enter their condemned home and retrieve personal possessions.

The demolition of 177 MacKenzie Street took enough stress off the Bodenmiller’s home that, with the addition of braces, building inspectors gave the green light to a quick in-and-out rescue operation.

“It was a great effort to get things out of the house and onto the lawn in 15 or 20 minutes,” said Leland. “We had to run and grab .. Whatever we have used recently, we grabbed.”

Bodenmiller said the family was able to snatch clothing, computers, photos, his wife’s wedding dress, some smaller furniture, and their son’s engineering books – among other things.

The 20 minutes “really opened it up. Precious things that were personal to us [were recovered],” he said. “We weren’t able to get some things, but we’re happy about what we got.”

Some valuables left behind include televisions, china and crystals from their wedding 35 years ago, a telescope, organ, and larger furniture.

But the Bodenmillers may have another chance. The DOB has given the landlord a one-week deadline to demolish the property since it’s no longer in immediate danger of collapsing, though it’s still condemned. Bodenmiller is hopeful the DOB may give them one more opportunity to get into the house.

“It’s like the weather,” Bodenmiller said. “Yesterday it was rainy and dreary and we couldn’t get in the house. Now it’s sunny and beautiful and we’re very happy we got to go inside.”

From the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association:

Community Security Forum

You are cordially invited to attend a very special and unprecedented event of our Brooklyn communities; a gathering of NYPD’s Finest will address our community for the purpose of advising of the security measures taking place in our local schools, religious institutions, and residential neighborhoods

****Tuesday March 16th 2010 – 8:00pm****

@

Ohel David & Shlomo Synagogue
710 Shore Blvd. (corner of Ocean Avenue)
Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn

Keep reading for more information

177 MacKenzie Street in Manhattan Beach Get Demolished

On Monday, March 15, Jacqulyn Bodenmiller should have been relaxing in advance of her marriage to Bittman Rivas in two weeks. Instead, she stood in the rain outside of her family’s home on MacKenzie Street. The family of five, and Rivas, watched helplessly as their home of 27 years was fenced up and prepped for demolition.

Almost all of their possessions were still locked inside the house, destined to be crushed by a huge mechanical claw.

On top of their home sprawled a three-story wooden frame, once a neighboring stalled construction site at 177 MacKenzie Street. During Saturday’s storm, the building slammed into the Bodenmiller’s home with a thunderous boom and shoved their house off its own foundation. Over the course of the next two days, the FDNY and the DOB inspected the home, declared it in “emergency condition” and an immediate threat. The family’s home could collapse under the weight at any time, according to city officials, and so they began demolishing both 177 MacKenzie Street and the Bodenmiller’s home at 181 MacKenzie Street.

The Bodenmillers are tenants without renters insurance. The American Red Cross put them up in a Sunset Park hotel for the time being, and they’re moving fast to secure an apartment in the area. But all their clothes and other possessions are trapped inside the house, except a few choice items Jacqulyn’s mother, Irine, was able to grab in a brief opportunity.

“It was the saddest part,” said Rivas. “Her mother had the opportunity and she grabbed the veil, wedding rings, and other wedding jewelry. She didn’t grab a thing of her own, just things for the wedding.”

Read more about the structure’s history, who’s to blame, and for photos of the demolition

Well, wouldn’t you know it, but yet another real estate office has closed. We’re not sure how long ago it happened, since such things kind of pass beneath our notice at this point, but the real estate office at 4175 Bedford Avenue has been replaced with something new.

I passed by earlier today and the new sign was up: Sheepshead Bay is getting a new bike shop! As the sign says RideBikeProGear is opening a bicycle show room and test center. As it turns out, RBPG looks like a well-established internet-based business, glancing at the page it looks like it’s been around a long time. The shop is not open yet so we don’t know just how much local service it’s going to provide, but let’s hope it’s a full-fledged bike shop. The area could use more unique businesses, even if they are just an outlet for a website.

On a slightly related topic, one does wonder what brings such a business to Bedford Avenue. While Bedford is one of the longest bicycle paths in the city it’s not exactly the safest or most scenic. Maybe the owner is from Sheepshead Bay, or perhaps this is the start of a new trend, where web businesses and dot-coms open offices in more affordable commercial areas outside Manhattan. Either way, RideBikeProGear is more than welcome here. If we can have a scuba shop, why not a bike shop!

As we all know by now, damage was widespread. For the most part, downed trees took out power lines, blocked off roads, crushed cars and shattered concrete like egg shells. In some areas trees fell into houses. Aluminum siding and roofing was stripped from some homes, as were signs from businesses. Boats slammed into the Ocean Avenue footbridge, splintering wooden guardrails.

In the worst damage I’ve seen from the storm yet, a stalled construction on MacKenzie Street in Manhattan Beach collapsed onto a neighbor’s home, knocking it off its foundation and causing the family to lose nearly everything (more on that later).

Ironically, Plumb Beach didn’t seem too badly damaged (more on that later, too).

These 111 photos come from Sheepshead Bites’ great readers, who went about chronicling the damage and sent us their photos. It’s only a selection of what we received. To see more photos – many with captions from the photographer – connect with us on Facebook and browse the photos tagged “Sheepshead Bites.”

Thanks to all of those who sent these in.

View photos of the March 2010 nor’easter damage

A lot of people have been asking for updates from yesterday’s attempted robbery of Sovereign Bank. From Vos Iz Neias:

Reports from the scene confirm that there are two hole in the roof with a ladder going down into the bank. The crooks crawled through a heating vent but were unable to gain access to the vault and fled empty-handed.

And yes, we ripped off their headline, too. Just one question: why is the Jewish press covering this better than anyone else (including us), and why do both Jewish press sources put the location in Flatbush?

Regardless, we’re not criticizing. They whipped our butts on this one fair and square. Here’s a link to a Yeshiva World News photo gallery that even shows the holes on the roof. Kudos to my khaveyrim.

Ladies and gentlemen, the end of an era has arrived. Windjammer Motor Inn has perished, and in its place stands… uh… Lyghthouse Inn (3206 Emmons Avenue). Yeah, that’s a “Y”. We don’t get it either.

(Actually, after looking through our archives we remembered the owner’s name is Terrence Lyght. Get it?!)

According to the clerks at the Comfort Inn next door, Windjammer made the change just last week. They couldn’t tell me why, and I wasn’t willing to go into Lyghthouse to ask; I have severe allergic reactions to gonorrhea and desperation.

As one observer put it, “It’s really the youth who will miss out. ‘I lost my virginity at the Lyghthouse’ just doesn’t sound the same.”

Requiescat in pace, Windjammer. You will be missed.

Anyone have memories to share?