Happy President’s Day! Does anyone else feel like February is the month for meaningless holidays?
Anyway, today is going to be a slow post day for technical and logistical reasons. So… sorry readers. I know how you love to read us at work, when you should be working. So I recommend exploring the archives and reading old comments (FYI, we broke the 5,000 comment mark late last night. Thanks everyone!)
Anyway, this is a truly open thread. Rant and rave, like you’re supposed to for an open thread. I’d love to hear some ruminations about your Valentine’s Day, or you can just tell us what’s been bugging you lately.
So get to it!
(l. to r.): Mary Powell, Pastor Ron Weinbaum of the King's Chapel, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Ed Jaworski at MMHCA's 2009 Holiday Party
Mary Powell, the long-time president of the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association, passed away on February 12 at Beth Israel Hospital/Kings Highway Division as a result of a stroke suffered on February 9.
Born September 17, 1918 , Brooklyn native Mary Quinn Powell set an example of dignity and dogged determination that was inspirational to all who knew her throughout her 91 years.
Early suffering did little to temper Powell’s spirit. As a child, she survived a bout with tuberculosis and being in a coma after getting hit by a car. At 11 years old, she lost her beloved oldest brother to blood poisoning after a strep infection. Still, she graduated from Manual Training High School (now John Jay) and went on to attend community college while she began working in New York. When her family moved upstate, she stayed in Brooklyn to work and carve out a life of her own, despite family protests of a young woman living alone. She was not alone for long, as she married within the next few years and began to raise a family while continuing to work at companies like Lederle Labs.
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(Photo courtesy of nolastname)
Happy Valentine’s Day to all of our friends and readers.
Just what exactly is going on here? Evita B. spotted this car stuck under the snow on Emmons Avenue yesterday. It’s in front of Roll-N-Roaster and, well, it’s probably still there. It looks like a 6-year-old painted on the door a very happy SpongeBob SquarePants running through a green field on a sunny day. Which is not at all befitting the actual location of this venerable Volkswagon.
We wrote about Councilman Michael C. Nelson’s new office location on Voorhies Avenue last month. The councilman’s office sent out an official release last week. Here’s that release:
(City Hall) – Council Member Michael C. Nelson proudly announces the location of the new District Office at 1605 Voorhies Avenue, first floor. In our new more spacious and more conveniently located district office, our staff will be better able to accommodate the many constituents that frequent the office for assistance.
The new location, easily accessible via two major subway lines (B, Q) and several popular bus routes (B-4, B-36, B-49), is located in the heart of Sheepshead Bay across from the Municipal Parking lot, directly off Sheepshead Bay Road.
“The Sheepshead Bay Road area is quite the hustle and bustle location,” said Councilman Nelson. “I am excited to be in this area and relieved that my constituents, especially seniors and individuals with disabilities, can now better reach my office should they need any type of assistance as the new office is so easily accessible via many modes of public transportation. My office will continue to provide the same quality constituent services as we did in the previous location.”
Constituents can call Councilman Nelson’s office at (718) 368-9176, Monday-Friday from 9a.m. – 5p.m, send a fax to (718) 368-9160 or email to Michael.Nelson@council.nyc.gov.
Local bar and grill Wheelers (1707 Sheepshead Bay Road), famous for their No Sushi sign, has entered the “Throw Your Wing Into The Ring” Chicken Wing Competition. Apparently the hipster scum up in North Brooklyn think they make the best wings around. Boy are they in for a fight!
Wheelers is going to be the only South Brooklyn establishment represented in the competition, so we’re calling on everyone from Starrett City to Bensonhurst to rally behind our chosen warrior.
And ladies, your hubby is going to wine and dine you and a variety of other things he doesn’t want to do on Sunday. So give him the perfect pre-Valentine’s Day date. Bring your muchacho to the competition to sample all the chicken wings Brooklyn has to offer and cheer on our neighborhood representative!
Let’s show them who the real chickens are! (Uh, we mean the North “Brooklynites” who moved here ’cause they were scared of “real life” in Omaha or wherever…)
When: Saturday, Februarty 13 at 3 p.m.
Where: Red Star Bar, 37 Greenpoint Avenue (between Franklin and West Streets)
Cost: FREE!
View the flyer
We all keep hearing about the plummeting crime statistics across the city, and in our area the 61st Precinct was named the lowest crime area in all of New York City (aside from the command responsible for Central Park). But Councilman Lew Fidler is asking aloud what many residents have been mumbling among themselves for years: is the NYPD manipulating the statistics?
“People can misinterpret or misuse statistics all the time,” City Councilmember Lew Fidler told Courier-Life. “It just strikes me that the crime statistics we hear are too good to be true.”
Fidler said the “inordinate pressure” coming from the city’s top brass to make the crime stats “look good” may be causing officers to downgrade crimes or dissuade residents from filing reports altogether. He blamed the over-emphasis on statistics in determining precinct’s needs.
Have you ever thought the police manipulated a report of a crime you were a victim of? Keep reading.
Yesterday’s snow storm left a mess on the ground, but children and family were out in the streets having a great time. Today, store and home owners are chiseling through the ice to make paths, and the area’s major arteries are covered in brown sludge. Ah, New York City snow storms.
The weather outlook isn’t so bad, though. We’ll be sticking in the mid-30′s with no more snows until Tuesday, when some light flurries are expected. The weekend looks pretty good, with a lot of sun coming out particularly on Friday and Sunday.
Despite all the great fun I had shoveling every couple of hours, the best part of yesterday were the photos. The above photo and the gallery below are all photos submitted to Sheepshead Bites by readers using Facebook (just tag any Sheepshead photo as “Sheepshead Bites”). Not one was taken by a Bites staff member, and we owe a big thank you to everyone’s participation in putting together a great collection of photos. Enjoy!
And in the comments section, be sure to tell us how your snowy Wednesday went!
Click to see the gallery
After seeing our posts about 1811 Voorhies Avenue, now known to some as the “Hell House” for its graffiti and nefarious residents, local historian Joseph Ditta sent us the above photo of the same house published 101 years ago.
According to Ditta, the photo came from a very rare 1909 marketing pamphlet titled Views of Picturesque Sheepshead Bay. The home was occupied at the time by Winsor McCay, a pioneering cartoonist who influenced Walt Disney, Moebius, William Joyce, and Maurice Sendak. His most iconic series was Little Nemo in Slumberland. McCay died in 1934 and was buried at the Cemetery of the Evergreens.
Now, more than a century after it was built and lived in by a historical icon, the property’s owners seek to tear down the structure and replace it with condominiums. Failing that, they’re attempting to subcontract it to the city for a new life as a halfway house or homeless shelter. Such a turn would seal its fate to further destruction, until it’s finally pulled down and forgotten about like so many of Sheepshead Bay’s notable structures.
What should be done is a full restoration and landmarking. Evidence of Sheepshead Bay’s rich cultural history is fading fast, and homes like the Winsor McCay House ought to be preserved to remind people of our past. Like the other historical homes of Brooklyn, the McCay House could be a museum, cultural center, and pillar of community organizing for generations to come – a far more desired asset in Sheepshead Bay than another condo or halfway house.
Courtesy of wallyg via Flickr
Not only is Brooklyn home to the world’s best pizza and bagels, it’s also home to two legendary institutions of roast beef. These prodigious restaurants happen to both be in Sheepshead Bay. I don’t even need to name them, but for the sake of the record, I’m talking about Roll-N-Roaster and Brennan & Carr.
Last night, Brennan & Carr called out Roll-N-Roaster on their Facebook page.
“There is a new show on the Travel Channel called Food Wars. Who thinks that Brennan & Carr would beat Roll’N'Roaster in a best roast beef in New York competition?” they wrote.
Woah! Them’s fightin’ words! So what do you think Sheepshead Bay? Who’s got the beef?
