Courtesy of GerritsenBeach.net
Approximately 300 people turned up for Tuesday night’s Community Board 15 meeting, where opponents of a Sheepshead Bay mosque were expected to seek the board’s support.
Sheepshead Bites couldn’t make it to the meeting, but we asked GerritsenBeach.net (GB.net) to check it out for us and we’ve also picked up additional details from attendees and board members.
From attendee reports, we’ve learned that of the nearly 300 people who came out, 75 percent were in support of the mosque. GB.net writes, “There was nothing really to report other than this was a show of force. A lot of people who may or may not be from the area in question supporting the mosque.”
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Shopping cart relaxing by the pool. (Photo courtesy of BW)
People think that because I live in Marco Island, Florida — where the subtropical climate brings the tourists in all the time — that we’re all living the “life of Riley” over here.
Yeah, sure I don’t get buried in freezing snow or end up dead under a subway overpass, but I get no attention, either. Well, that is, until this kindly visitor was relaxing out by the pool and asked me if he could take my picture. My first response was, “Yah, sure thang, Mister Tourist, y’all go right ahead.” But, then a second later, I was like, “Well, why do you want to take my picture. I’m just a shopping cart out of place.”
When he told me that he was from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, I was expecting some Brooklyn attitude in an accent I couldn’t understand. Instead, all I got was a nice simple explanation, “I just want to send your picture to Sheepshead Bites, a blog in my community. They have a series where they highlight a shopping cart, whether at work or at play. It’s kinda fun and I think the readers might like you. Even if they don’t use you on the site, I’d love to have a picture of you, because your color is as beautiful as the crystal blue water of the pool.”
Well, that’s all I needed to hear. Hot setting sun, heat, and humidity be darned! I just wheeled myself over by the pool and batted my blue eyes.
The Manhattan Beach Community Group is featuring Principal Forman of P.S. 195 who will speak about changes in the Department of Education and other issues at tonight’s meeting.
Principal Forman is expected to talk about the effects of budget cuts at area schools, and may also talk about last night’s decision to close 19 city schools. If you have young children, this may be a good opportunity to pick the mind of an education insider.
When: Tonight, January 27 @ 8:00 p.m.
Where: P.S. 195, 131 Irwin Street in Manhattan Beach.
Contact: (718) 200-1845
A Courier-Life report says that the Kings Plaza Diner at 4125 Avenue U may close and be replaced by a Bed, Bath & Beyond. The article, laden with enough praise for the diner that one must wonder if it’s an advertiser, says that Community Board 18 District Manager Dottie Turano mentioned at a recent meeting that she had heard “from sources” about the closing. Turano also detailed plans to move into the former Retro 50s diner on Cropsey Avenue in Coney Island, the Nebraskan Diner, which has been closed for two years.
Owners so far are denying the rumors, but Courier-Life offered up this nugget:
The only evidence of any proposed change comes by way of city Department of Finance records, which showed a deed change at the Kings Plaza Diner back in February 2009 to Sigma Preferred Equities, which couldn’t be reached as this paper went to press. There has been no deed change for the Retro 50s diner since 1998. Residents, however, have noted that construction materials have been left at the site — possible evidence of an upcoming transformation.
If they did make the move, would this make the Kings Plaza Diner more accessible for Sheepshead Bay residents?
[via NYPost.com]
Over the weekend, we asked all our Facebook buddies to upload their old photos of Sheepshead Bay and tag them “Sheepshead Bites”. We were happy to see some readers listened, and a dozen or so photos poured in. This one came from Lisanne, a 1961 photo of East 13th Street looking towards Homecrest Avenue and Neck Road. I can’t even begin to imagine fields in Sheepshead Bay.
It’s not too late to add yours. Go friend us on Facebook, and then start uploading new and old photos of the area and tag them “Sheepshead Bites”. They’ll still be totally under your control – it just allows our friends to see them.
Image courtesy of TheGirlsNY via Flickr
In addition to the subway snafu making travel out of the Sheepshead Bay-area difficult, the MTA released details of bus service cuts late last week. Many of the cuts were already well-known and already facing protests from hard hit communities like Dyker Heights. But the new details reveal an increasingly strangled Sheepshead Bay community, beginning this July.
Most significant of the new bus cuts in our area is the “shortened” service of the B4, which completely removes the only bus that runs along the Sheepshead Bay waterfront and to the United Artists movie theater. Though the bus line was never great to begin with, it remains the only line Plumb Beach residents can rely on to take them laterally across Brooklyn. Now, though, all service between Coney Island Avenue and Knapp Street has been cancelled.
Other local bus lines affected include the B1, B2, B3, B9, and B31. BKSouthie.com has a good report summing up the changes across Southern South Brooklyn.
Just a quick thought that came to me as I wrote this: it appears almost all of the affected bus lines run east-west, lines that connected Brooklyn communities with other Brooklyn communities rather than bring commuters in the general direction of Manhattan. It almost seems as if the bureaucrats designing this mess think the desirable place to go is Manhattan, almost a total reflection of their Manhattan-centric mentality. Almost.
It looks as if our local graffiti maven, Red Fish Smoking, is moving away from his crappy stickers and onto some “found art.”
Okay, okay, so it’s not red. But it is dead, and my name is Ned, so it’s all gravy.
After yesterday’s rain, reader EdFark spotted this dead fish smoking on the asphalt near Avenue T and East 18th Street. He snapped a cell phone picture and sent it our way. Any ideas on how this little bugger found his way nearly a mile from any large body of water?
The first Community Board 15 meeting of 2010 looks like it’ll be a heated one, with residents opposed to a Sheepshead Bay mosque appealing to the board for support. Of course, the mosque has little to worry about since they intend to build as-of-right, but neighbors will complain about traffic, parking, and security concerns, as well as bring up the group’s connections to the controversial Muslim American Society.
Mosque aside, the agenda features three public hearings on area land use and zoning, including a discussion on whether or not to grant Baku Palace permission to allow dancing.
Baku Palace, on the corner of Emmons Avenue and Ocean Avenue, applied for a special permit to operate without restrictions on entertainment or dancing on the second floor and ground floor space. Current zoning law says that dancing can only occur on the water side of Emmons Avenue, so if you feel like shaking your booty on the pier like some weirdo, go for it.
Community Board 15 is also reviewing special permit applications to allow enlargements to two single family homes in Manhattan Beach – 230 Amherst Street and 28 Falmouth Street.
As usual, there will also be a new business section where residents can raise issues. So if you’ve got something you think community leaders should discuss, make sure to head to tonight’s meeting.
Where: 2001 Oriental Boulevard, Kingsborough Community College, faculty dining room.
When: January 26 at 7:00 p.m.
Contact: (718) 332-3008
As a Sheepshead Bay bankruptcy attorney, there are numerous instances where I have clients that do not want to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in the area. Instead, they have one or two unpaid bills that are now in the hands of collection firms like Rubin & Rothman, Pressler & Pressler, Cohen & Slamowitz and others.
Here’s the constant problem that they have: they get these absurdly harrassing phone calls from these companies, the client gets scared, and ultimately they give up a crucial piece of information, like a social security number or a bank account number.
At that point, good luck.
If you’ve been in this situation, you know what comes next. Almost immediately, these collection firms will freeze these accounts. The only way to get your money out of that account is to file an Order to Show Cause with the local court, filing for bankruptcy, or agreeing to a settlement (sometimes this doesn’t even work).
So what’s my advice? Read on to find out.
