Capt. Mastrokostas and Council President Etienne present "Cop of the Month" awards to 4 officers
A larger audience than usual turned out to last night’s 61st Community Council meeting. Many, it seems, turned out to challenge Captain Georgios Mastrokostas from the 61st Precinct about problems on their block or with area businesses.
The most contentious part of the meeting occurred when a resident of East 19th Street and Avenue W complained to the captain about the dismissive attitude of police responding to consistent problems on her block. We’ve written before about this block being a haven for graffiti, and the resident stressed that despite numerous complaints police offers appear to have done little. She also said drugs were increasingly a problem, and that she had called police to have them pick up a bag of crack-cocaine she found in the street. She said dealers in cars often come to the poorly lit street to conduct transactions before driving off.
“The block is a hangout spot, an orgy spot, a get high spot,” she said.
Read the captain’s response and more meeting coverage
You would’ve thought the state’s biggest tax debtor would’ve been a mansion-owning CEO living in Garden City or the Hamptons. But no, the biggest bilking sleazebag lives right here in Sheepshead Bay, in a very unassuming home on Montauk Court.
Courier-Life reports:
Irving Bilzinsky, a proud son of the borough of churches, was named the state tax department’s enemy number one.
Bilzinsky, a resident of Montauk Court in Sheepshead Bay and the former owner of the Scores strip club in Manhattan, owes over $15 million in back taxes between 2007 and 2009, according to a list of New York’s top 250 delinquent tax payers that was made public for the first time last week in a new shame campaign to recoup unpaid taxes.
Bilzinsky and Scores went bankrupt back in 1998. The taxes he owes are his individually, as well as back taxes from his popular flesh flashing joint never paid, officials said. Attempts to reach Bilzinsky were unsuccessful as this paper went to press.
After a sharp spike in crime from the week before, the week of February 22 through 28 appears to have gone back down. Both burglary and grand larceny remained relatively high, and continued to see jumps from the year before. But after seven the week earlier, robberies dropped back down to one.
The overall crime reduction for the year (year-to-date total) slid down to -28.93 percent from 31.72 percent the week before, still representing a significant drop in crime.
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.
Is this new feature useful? Interesting? Let us know!
A parting glance. (Photo courtesy of nolastname)
Well, everyone, by now you must have heard all about the Belt Parkway roadwork. The traffic has been horrendous around here, because of all the construction.
It’s driving me batty. The other day, I felt like flinging myself into the oncoming traffic, but then I figured it wasn’t nice to get others involved in my Heavenly plan. So, I abandoned the plan and plotted my big escape. Here I am about to wander into the Flatbush woods for good.
Goodbye, traffic. Goodbye, all.
The 61st Precinct Community Council meets at 3093 Ocean Ave., on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. The 61st Precinct would like to invite you to our monthly meetings. Come in and meet with Captain Georgios Mastrokostas and his executive staff. Also, meet your community police officer and your local elected official.
On Monday we gave you the schedules for lane closures along three local sections of the Belt Parkway undergoing construction. At the time, pothole repairs were just announced and it was suggested that closures related to the Seven Bridges Project would be suspended. That information was incorrect and we have updated the original post to reflect that.
In sum, ALL THREE PROJECTS ARE BEING DONE SIMULTANEOUSLY, AND ALL CLOSURES ARE IN EFFECT!
Just to make things clearer and gathered in one place, here again are the schedules for the lane closures. Safe driving!
View the Belt Parkway lane closure schedules
Miss Brooklyn Keelie Sheridan in Sheepshead Bay
Last week, we told you about Miss Brooklyn (and Manhattan Beach resident), Keelie Sheridan, shopping at the Nostrand Avenue Salvation Army store. That was after Brokelyn interviewed the contestant winner about her frugal ways.
This week, just a short while before she crowns this year’s winner, Keelie sat down with us to tell us about her life, as well to answer the burning question we all had after her ‘Miss Brokelyn’ interview: Is it really possible to be a struggling college student, gorgeous beauty pageant winner, broke actress, and live in Manhattan Beach? We already know the answer is ‘yes’ — but it was so much fun doing the investigation.
Find out more about Miss Brooklyn 2009 Keelie Sheridan
Courtesy of More Glib Than Profound
A talented writer running a personal blog named More Glib Than Profound posted a chronicling of his childhood memories of F.W.I.L. Lundy’s Bros. Restaurant. Living in Sheepshead Bay all my life, I’ve heard so many stories of the massive restaurant that, as legend has it, sold 15,000 meals on Mother’s Day. But Lundy’s was before my time, and the portrait painted in my mind was thinly done. More Glib, however, made me feel like I was there, to the point that in the middle of it I jumped out of my chair on Monday night and strode over to Randazzo’s (the closest equivalent, which he also writes about) to partake in beer and clams at the bar.
What he writes of the restaurant’s history is a little off. But in terms of atmosphere, if you’re too young to remember Lundy’s as it was in the 1960s, read More Glib’s account. Here’s an excerpt:
Lundy’s had NO hostess service. That meant it wasYOUR job to scour the place for a vacant table. During summer weekends or holidays at prime dinner hours, you were left on your own to compete with other families to scout-out this two-level football field-like dining room. It should also be noted that Lundy’s had other smaller, intimate nooks and crannies in the labyrinth of rooms along Ocean Avenue.
In emergencies, we traveled in pairs to hunt down unoccupied tables. If there weren’t any, one of us would stake a claim on a table while the existing party was finishing. Then the other would run to alert the rest of our clan.
Continue Reading »
I’m so happy for the return of beautiful weather. In Sheepshead Bay, that invariably means walks on any of the four local beaches, and watching a sunset to the west. It means strolls along the marina, or having a cold beer on a cafe with sidewalk seating. It means Littlenecks at Randazzos, feeding the swans, the smell of BBQs, the murmurs of nearby block parties.
Michael Comeau of Bay Ridge (currently living in Sunset Park) snagged this great shot the other day that I think capture the warmth of relaxing evenings to come. Kudos to him.
What are you looking forward to about warm weather in Sheepshead Bay?
Brennan & Carr (3432 Nostrand Avenue) seem to really love their Facebook page, using it to connect with fans and pump up the rivalry with Roll-N-Roaster. Now, they’re musing on a second location. They asked, “If another B&C was to open up, where would an ideal location be?”
Here’s a screenshot of the status update:
Seems like they’re looking to expand and open a new location outside Sheepshead Bay. A lot of commenters begged for an opening on Long Island or Staten Island, where the residents of Sheepshead past have moved to. A number of them are also saying Florida. As for us, we want to see it across the street from Roll-N-Roaster. That’d really throw some beef on the simmering feud.
But wait, don’t get too excited. We called Brennan & Carr and an employee there told us they have no plans for such an expansion. Despite the extreme popularity of their Facebook page, and the professional feel of it, they told us they have no affiliation with the page and don’t know who runs it. But can’t a boy dream?
If Brennan & Carr opens a second location, where do you think it should be? Should it be nearby, or far away? How about a small location at Coney Island? Maybe a swanky new pad in Park Slope? The city? Out of state even? Let your voice be heard!
