SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Photo courtesy of MDanalakis via Flickr

Coney Island Hospital has partnered with Takes All Types, a non-profit that uses social networking to encourage the internet generation to join the ranks of blood donors.

Takes All Types takes the concept of viral marketing and grassroots campaigning and transforms it into a system for alerting local blood donors when they are needed most. Their Facebook App hooks you into their system. You fill in all your information, including blood type (if you know it) and if supplies of that type run low in your area you’ll be contacted with a request to come donate. If you don’t use Facebook you can also register at their dedicated website or other social networking sites like MySpace and Fanbox. They’ve even got a cellphone network running (text ‘BLOOD’ to 69866).

If, for some reason, you’re precluded or prevented from donating blood you can still join Takes all Types and promote it to your friends.

Coney Island Hospital is paving the way to the future and is the first hospital in New York City to try this approach. Hopefully it will start a deluge of participants as New York City uses 2000 units of blood per day, with Coney Island Hospital using 3000 units last year alone. If you would like to donate blood you have to be eligible first. Which means you’ve got to be between 17 and 75, and at least 110 Lbs. You’re only allowed to donate once every 56 days and should be feeling well the day of your donation! In the meantime don’t forget to join TAT in their quest to keep the blood flowing.

If you want more info you can read the full press release here.

Photo by Arthur Borko

It’s a rare sight indeed, but construction workers at the Avenue V subway overpass were photographed working earlier today. The work at Avenue V is part of the rehabilitation projects at the Gravesend Neck Road and Avenue U train stations that started almost exactly one year ago. The work on this side was scheduled to be finished by now and construction on the Manhattan-bound tracks are next. But, unsurprisingly, work has been delayed and now the MTA says work on the Coney Island-bound side will finish by “Early 2010.”

Regarding the overall project affecting the entire line this side of Prospect Park, the MTA has not yet responded to our leaders’ requests for more information. Politicians and organizers for the area met with MTA officials in October to ask for alternatives to the work and guarantees of the timetable. MTA told them they would be in touch in a few days after they had gathered relevant data. Sheepshead Bites is offering $100,000 (in Monopoly money) to anyone who can snag a photo of an MTA executive at work.

Around noon today, a BMW zooming down Oriental Boulevard towards West End Avenue lost control, vaulted over the median, and plowed into the park fence on Hastings Street, said Flori Kostoff of the Manhattan Beach Community Group.

According to Kostoff, the car had several passengers, one of whom was taken to the hospital. His condition is unknown. The others were arrested.

Kostoff was dispatched to take photos for the group as part of their ongoing campaign for stronger enforcement of traffic laws on Oriental Boulevard. When she arrived, she said she heard one passenger ask the police if it would take long because he needed to get to an exam. She also said none of them copped to being the driver of the car. The owner was charged with excessive speeding, but he said he was not behind the wheel.

The car left skid marks in the street, damaged a fence, and rendered a bench useless. Kostoff says it could be up to two years for the bench to be replaced, as thats how long it has taken for other benches in the area that were damaged in automobile accidents.

This is an ongoing story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.

We all hate sitting in traffic. But when the opportunity arises, one should enjoy the view.

UPDATE as of December 19, 2009: Due to inclement weather, this event has been postponed to January 3, 2010.

The Bay Improvement Group (B.I.G.) is inviting you to a special toy drive and concert. The concert is free, but entry requires your donation of a new toy. The toys will be categorized and wrapped, then sent to needy and terminally ill children in the local area. All are welcome.

Here are the details (see flyer above):

Sunday, December 20, 2009 from 5-7
19th Annual Holiday Caroling & Toy Drive
St. Mark’s Roman Catholic School Auditorium
2602 East 19 Street
Enter on East 18 Street and Avenue Z

Despite numerous complaints and pleas from local leadership, a two year battle to remove concrete planters in Manhattan Beach has culminated in a dismissive letter from the Brooklyn chief of the Parks Department.

Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo received a letter from Parks Department Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Julius Spiegel claiming that neighbor’s worries were exaggerated and that the concrete planters pose no risk at all. Scavo read the letter at last week’s Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association meeting.

“I understand the issues you raise concerning traffic crossing over the boulevard from both directions,” wrote Spiegel. “The Park Avenue Malls, near Union Square, are lushly planted with high shrubs in containers, much like those on Oriental Boulevard, but still allow for the safe flow of traffic,” he added.

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Arthur shamelessly advertises his car service, thinking the editors will never notice

Remember all that Walgreens coverage we brought you this past summer and fall? Well, here’s a little more for you.

Starting Saturday, December 19, the Coney Island Avenue and Avenue W location will remain open an extra two hours every day – to close at midnight – until Christmas Eve, on which it will close early at 6 p.m. Hey, Walgreens’ employees deserve some family time, too!

Additionally, way back when Sheepshead Bites first started coverage of Walgreens we suggested that they install a sturdy bench outside to give their customers and pedestrians a place to rest while waiting for the bus, especially if they are carrying heavy bags. Well, it looks like they decided to follow my advice! That’s pretty awesome. You know folks, I gotta say, so far my only complaint as a consumer about this location is that they constantly run out of ketchup. I mean, seriously, four rows for mayonnaise and only one for ketchup?! C’mon!

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s latest public service announcement (PSA) is drawing fire for its graphic display of, uh, something really disgusting.

The ad is meant to discourage consumers from drinking sugary beverages, and shows a man drinking a delicious glass of putrid lard. It says that drinking one can of soda every day “Can make you 10 pounds fatter a year.”

Here, take a look:

The YouTube video quickly went viral, and was picked up by every one of the city’s major media outlets, with wonderful reaction shots from shocked New Yorkers.

But the question to me isn’t whether or not the ad went too far. I’m thick-skinned, and personally I agree with the ad’s message.

But the incident did set a lightbulb off in my head: should the city even be spending money on PSAs like this – or others – when we’re in financial straights? Is this the best use of taxpayer money? I think not.

The $50,000 price tag for this video was, thankfully, paid for by a private donor. But it’s a spinoff from a campaign done last year. That campaign plastered the city’s subway system with a photo of a soda bottle being poured into a glass of lard, and the words “Are you pouring on the pounds?”

That campaign cost $277,000 to produce, and only the placement of the ad was taken up by donors, according to the New York Times. It appeared in 1,500 subway cars for a three month run. (One subway car for one month costs $70,000. But the donor only put up $90,000, so we’re wondering where the rest of the funds came from.) And, of course, those ad placements could be taken up by private companies and help pad our transit system from further financial problems.

What do you think? Should the city keep pouring money into PSAs even during tough times? Do they even work?

Councilman Lew Fidler and the 41st Assembly District Democrats Club are presenting the Community First Chapter of Toys for Tots’ 9th annual holiday toy drive this Thursday, December 17.

For three years now, the Community First Chapter of Toys for Tots has dominated New York City’s toy drive scene, collecting more than any other Toys for Tots chapter in the boroughs. Last year alone, they brought in more than 4,000 toys. Help make this year even bigger.

Kicking off at 7:30 p.m. at the Dems Club (2952 Avenue R), organizers will start collecting and tallying contributions, and Fidler and the Dems are inviting the community to come join them. Subway sandwiches and kosher food will be served.

If you’d like to bring a toy – which is kind of the point – it needs to be new and unwrapped. Alternatively, you can mail a check for the organization to purchase toys, made payable to “Community First Toy Drive” and mailed to:

Community First Toy Drive – 41st A.D. Dems Club
c/o Bryan Lee, Executive Director
585 Mayfair Drive South
Brooklyn, NY 11234

Some of you may have noticed the exceptionally windy weather we’ve had lately. With winds gusting at 45mph, many trees in the area took lots of damage, just like the following fallen branch across the street from 2260 East 19th Street. Most likely this grand branch snapped off last weekend as it’s been laying on the road since last Monday. We want to know: why is it still here? The branch represents a hazard for every pedestrian in the area. Children risk hurting themselves among the sharp and pointy twigs. The elderly risk tripping. And, worst of all, it’s taking up two parking spots right next door to an apartment building. Is this a case of apathetic residents or of a negligent city? In any case can some one please come clean this up!?