Courtesy of jrcompton.com
Well, it appears the Belt Parkway overpass at Nostrand Avenue (and Shore Parkway) is once again a safe place to film a John Woo flick.
In response to yesterday’s post, “NYC DOT Murders Babies,” a crew has been dispatched to cut holes in the wire mesh and free the trapped, starving pigeons.
Sheepshead Bites makes a motion to rename this DOT team the Rainbow Division. Anyone second this motion?
Overturned shopping cart, Summer 2009. (Photo courtesy of Lisanne Anderson)
Many of you have just about had it with winter. I never cared for the warm weather, just because people seem to think that they can drag me out into the streets with their groceries. In the winter, they’re less likely to do that. So, if you’re one of those who are seriously looking forward to the coming of the warm weather, think of what happened to me.
Last summer, I had an accident. A shopper was pushing me stacked high — watermelon perched right on top –away from my supermarket home to their own home. I tried to tell him by squeaking my wheels that I wasn’t built to travel on city streets — but this guy wouldn’t listen to me.
As I was rolling down Gravesend Neck Road, the load became too much for me and I started to lean. Next thing I knew, I was on my side and the man who “borrowed” me from the supermarket just stood there. The road was very narrow due to the MTA station construction, so the cars couldn’t avoid running right over the cargo. I may not have a brain, but the sounds that watermelon made when it was being squashed sure made me feel what it must be like to have a brain.
Because of a serious limp I now have, they just keep me in the store holding cans of caviar. Gets a little boring, but sure beats being rolled out into the street where I don’t belong.
You can wish for summer all you want. I’ll be sitting under the A/C unit.
“These birds violated the housing code and clearly did not have the occupancy permit.
Anyways Ned, this is complete drivel and hardly newsworthy.”
- Alex on NYC DOT Murders Babies
Courtesy of Brokelyn
Did you know Miss Brooklyn lives in Manhattan Beach? Yup, and the Brooklyn beauty is a real cheapskate, too. Apparently, the 23-year-old student needs to scrimp and save every penny, which is the reason she got involved in pageantry in the first place. She’s earned around $1000 in scholarships and garnered sponsors that keep her well-stocked.
Miss Brooklyn, a.k.a. Keelie Sheridan, gave a Q&A to Brokelyn about wearing the tiara, saving money by shopping at Sheepshead Bay’s Salvation Army, and how to get involved with pageantry.
Baby pigeons, anyway.
A group of city animal advocates is criticizing the Department of Transportation for carelessly snaring birds in a Sheepshead Bay construction site, preventing them from foraging for food or roosting with their mates.
“No matter what you think of pigeons, trapping them inside to slowly starve to death is cruel,” said a Gerritsen Beach resident who tipped us off to the issue.
On Tuesday morning, Jennifer Dudley arrived at Nostrand Avenue and Shore Parkway from her Manhattan home to scope out the situation for New York City Pigeon Rescuce Central, an animal-rights organization she volunteers with. At least half a dozen birds were trapped behind wooden planks put in place by the DOT to prevent debris from falling from the Belt Parkway bridge’s decaying seams.
According to Dudley, the birds had been stuck there at least since Friday, when a distraught resident alerted the organization to the situation. The resident told her that baby birds could be heard squeaking, but that ceased over the weekend as they likely starved to death.
Since then, Dudley and five others took up the cause to get wire meshing around the planking cut open so the pigeons could go free. But they’ve been met with apathy.
Dudley spent several hours on her cell phone making calls to the ASPCA, the DEC, the New York Animal Care & Control, the NYPD, and the FDNY, but found little help. Of them, only the ASPCA has a history of helping pigeons, but they require photos and specific reports. Dudley had a difficult time snapping clear photos in the dark underpass of the Belt Parkway.
Pigeons caught behind meshing is a pretty common occurrence, Dudley said. But while many may think of pigeons as pests, their separation from their mates and eventual starvation is a cruel punishment.
“This kind of thing happens a lot and nobody notices,” she said. “It’s not like there’s a huge community of pigeon advocates that can rally together” to pressure those with the equipment and authority to save them.
I stopped by the Winsor McCay “Hell House” (1811 Voorhies) yesterday to snap photos of the damage left by Friday’s fire. I spotted this stained glass window that I never noticed before. I couldn’t get a good shot of it without trespassing, so I let it be and moved on.
Lisanne, however, is an adventurous soul who braved the wilds of the neighbor’s yard, and got this great shot. Not only is the glass cool – and probably original – but the aesthetics of the photo itself are really spectacular. The green moss contrasts the purple hue of the glass, and then there’s orange and blue – I mean, this photo just came out way better than mine. Props to Lisanne.
GerritsenBeach.net is reporting that there were approximately 80 arrests in August 2009 at Plumb Beach as part of an undercover sting operation. Agents of the National Parks Service charged suspects with sex-related crimes, including propositioning or “in the act.” The number of arrests is higher than any whole year in the National Parks’ history at Plumb Beach
We’re told by sources that the arrests were made as part of an operation spearheaded by a new unit commander who sought to halt anonymous homosexual meetups at Plumb Beach. We’re told that the operation “got sloppy,” and fishermen and other innocent visitors to the beach were snared in broad roundups by the National Parks patrols.
GerritsenBeach.net writes, “The arrests may have something to do with the threat that the National Parks Service would lose its funding in our area. So to justify their existence they arrested more people in on month than they did all of the previous year.”
Many of those captured paid fines and/or accepted deals, while others are currently defending themselves in court.
Gene Berardelli told us the topic will be discussed at tonight’s Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Assocation meeting. We’ll inform your as more information becomes available.
The civic group is meeting at Baron DeKalb – Knights of Columbus at 3000 Emmons Avenue (off of Nostrand Avenue). Kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Call 718-891-1937 for more information.
Damage didn’t appear to be too bad to the exterior of the Winsor McCay “Hell House” (1811 Voorhies Avenue), and the structure seems salvageable. The second floor windows were boarded up along the front. On the side, only one window – the forward-most one – was boarded. All others were intact, suggesting that the worst of the fire may have been contained to the front of the house.
Below is a gallery of photos. The ones of the damage were taken by Sheepshead Bites. The ones of the fire were taken by Eugene D., a reader who happened to be going by during the fire. He sent them this morning.
During last Wednesday’s Manhattan Beach Community Group meeting, Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo urged residents to attend the March 3 hearing on MTA service cuts. The all-important hearing is being used by MTA commissioners to judge opposition to their plans, so a light showing from certain neighborhoods could be interpreted as a sign of community approval.
Don’t let that happen! Attend the hearing even if you don’t plan to speak. Let them know that striking out the B4 service along Emmons Avenue will suffocate businesses and leave Plumb Beach residents and several senior homes without service. And let them know, too, that you believe these plans are ill-conceived and rely on faulty data.
To give a little more oomph, you’ll see in the video above that Scavo believes eliminating the student metrocard will lead to increased crime rates. She says struggling students are “going to be stealing the money to get to where they are going, or they’re going to be jumping the turnstiles. They are not going to put their hand in their pocket rather than going and buying sneakers or their cell phone to pay to get on a train or a bus.”
I’m not sure if I totally buy the increased crime argument, but asking families to pay nearly $100 a month for their kids to get to school for their supposedly free education is ludicrous. It will certainly lead to increased drop-out rates and further hurt New York City’s education standings.
It’s stealing opportunity from an entire generation of low-income students and their families.
Learn what you can do to stop the cuts from suffocating Sheepshead Bay!
