SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Though it may be chilly, it’s time to get your green thumb throbbing. Bay Improvement Group is hosting its annual cleanup and planting at its community garden locations throughout the area this Sunday. BIG is inviting neighbors to join them – and bring tools if possible – to clean up and plant bulbs at its Adopt-a-Highway locations along the Sheepshead Bay Belt Parkway overpasses. Cleanup starts at 9:00 a.m. sharp, meeting at Sheepshead Bay Road and Shore Parkway, and bagels and coffee will be served free to all volunteers.

The program is run by Richie, who told us previously of the dire need for new volunteers for the activity. The group has maintained the gardens for several years now, but as time has passed the members have teetered off. Richie says he needs some new blood to help out, so all those who kvetched at last week’s midweek photo of the garbage in Sheepshead Bay – get out there and help make a difference! And if you can’t make it Sunday, then give Richie a call at (347) 631-9551 since he still needs help for the ongoing efforts to keep the Bay clean.

When I pull into a gas station, I go with the mentality that even a tap against one of the pumps will lead to an explosion that’ll take out half of Brooklyn. Sure, it’s not realistic, but it keeps me from making an irresponsible move. The driver who nailed this pump at the Mobile station on Knapp Street and Gerritsen Avenue should’ve been thinking more like me. We’re not exactly sure what happened here, as the attendant on hand kept mum about the incident, but we do know it happened last night. The truck there now wasn’t involved; it’s there to protect people from being hurt. What’s going on in Brooklyn these days? Cars ramming gas pumps? Autos going for a swim? Buses forgetting that they can’t weave in traffic like bikers? It must be because 2012 is closing in. Damn Mayans…

(Photos and tip courtesy of Arthur B.)

The cellphone store at 1505 Sheepshead Bay Road slapped up a “For Rent” sign this Monday. There still appeared to be a few things inside, but posters were torn down. I noticed because I saw them a few feet away, lying in the public garbage can under the Sheepshead Bay Train Station overpass. I bet if you go now, you may still see the Boost Mobile signs spilling out onto the sidewalk. But the closure makes me wonder: has Sheepshead Bay finally hit its saturation point for cellphone stores? I don’t know, but this is one down, and 54,682,786,023 more to go. Oh, and no, that guy has nothing to do with it. He was just waiting for the bus.

By now we’ve all heard about the woman and her two kids who, perhaps fed up with the parking situation in Sheepshead Bay, tried landing her car alongside Pier 7 on Emmons Avenue. And, of course, we’ve heard about yet another heroic Sheepshead Bay fisherman saving the day. Yes, the important parts are that no one was hurt. And that fisherman Keith Gorman gets the credit he deserves for his heroic acts. One thing we haven’t heard much about, though, is the damaged railing. So here are some photos taken on Monday. And we’re officially announcing the start of the countdown to the repairs. (Man, I’m glad she wasn’t on my insurance…)

Oh… and here’s a video for stickin’ around:

Councilman Fidler sent over a letter from the president of MTA Bus regarding BM3/BM4 service, discussed at last week’s subway meeting. MTA says a decrease in riders is the reason for cutting BM3 service, though we heard whispers that the ridership survey was done on a Jewish holiday. And now that there’s no B express, and as complaints roll in about congested cars on both lines, more people will be interested in a bus alternative. But gripes aside, they say they’re looking into scheduling an earlier BM4 bus. Congrats, residents of Gerritsen Beach. Now when do we get something?

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The first meeting of the 2009-2010 season for the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association is scheduled for Thursday, October 15, at 7:30 p.m. The meeting kicks off at the King’s Chapel on Quentin Road and East 27th Street. Representatives of city agencies and elected officials have been invited, and you can bet the organization will discuss their ongoing fight against negligent developers. For further information, call (718) 934-8214.

(Courtesy of http://shop.zlatoff.ru/)

Swords are cool. The only thing more badass than a big, swingin’ sword is a big, swingin’ sword with a badass engraving. Cool. Badass. Swords…

… in Sheepshead Bay? Yup!

Chances are if you’re not Russian – or an expert on historic weaponry – then you’ve never heard of Zlatoust. But the city, sitting on the border between Europe and Asia, has been a regional capital for world-class metallurgy for more than 250 years. Now their goods are coming to Sheepshead Bay’s Rasputin restaurant, for a two-day expo starting this Friday.

An industrial ironworking town since its foundation in 1754, Zlatoust produced the first Russian steel blades in the early 19th century and the first cannons made from Russian steel. Artists emerged out of the industrial mills, led by pioneers like Ivan Bushuyev and Ivan Boyarshinov, who left a legacy of unique patterns engraved in cold steel. Bushuyev was well-known for his designs of winged horses, earning the name “Ivan the Wingy”, and eventually the town adopted the Pegasus as their emblem. Over two centuries, Zlatoust refined its image as a center of artistic engraving. Though early works primarily appeared on weapons, the practice spread during the Soviet era to metal plates, jewelry, tools, and any other surfaces those zany Zlatoustskys could get their tools on.

Golden World Business Group has invited the Lochtachev & Co. artist collective, Zlatoust’s largest arts studio, to exhibit and sell items in our own Little Odessa. More than 150 artists are showing an assortment of blades, clocks, decorative items, and religious works displaying traditional and contemporary Zlatoust styles. Lochtachev & Co.’s pieces are owned by Russian celebrities and newsmakers, including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Featured at the event are two unique works highlighted by organizers. “Crosses of Memory” was unveiled on the first anniversary of September 11. They are made in memory of the tragic events, showing how its effects were felt across the world. The Crosses, made from platinum, silver, and gold with sapphires, diamonds, and rubies, symbolize the Northern and the Southern Towers of the World Trade Center.

The other work is a replica completed in April 1997, commissioned by the “Highest benediction of Moscow and Russian Patriarch Alexey II.” It recreates the Tabernacle of Temple of Christ the Savior – a sacred object of the Orthodox church and a monument of the Patriotic War 1812. The original was destroyed in the 1930s, and Zlatoust artists have attempted a complete and accurate replica.

Interesting stuff, but, uh… Swords, people! Friggin’ swords!

(Flyer after the jump)

Golden World Business Group cordially invites you to attend Zlatoust’s Decorative ArtShow -2009. Please join us to celebrate 250 years of the Zlatoust City – famous for the unsurpassed style and unique tradtional Russian techniques used in the creation of its Russian weaponry, art and jewely. The show will exhibit highly-artistic works of decorative-applied art featured by workshop “Lochtachev and Co”. All products presented at the exhibition are unique and exclusive articles, collector’s items of modern decorative art. All items presented at the exhibition will be offered for sale during the exhibition and auctioned off on the final day of show.

Event Schedule:
October 16th, 11 A.M. – Reception and Exhibition
5 P.M. – Day exhibition ends
October 17th, 11 A.M. – Exhibition Continues
2 P.M. – Exhibition Auction

Event Location:
Restaurant Rasputin
2670 Coney Island Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11235

RSVP: swordsandgifts@yahoo.com Tel. 1-(800) 788-6106

My girlfriend got an iPhone. Before this, she never owned an iPod and only occasionally listened to music on the go. Now she’s got those standard white earplugs in all the time, hiding behind her long hair. She’s got that dazed, “I’m only sorta paying attention to the world around me” look that plasters itself onto the faces of iPod users. One spittle of drool, one garbled moan, on a cold, pale day, and I’d swear she was a zombie.

My girlfriend doesn’t understand why I get angry when I’m talking to her because I don’t see the white earbuds under her hair. I don’t understand why she gets angry when I pull the earphones out so she can hear me. She uses it in the car. She uses it when we walk. She uses it when we’re out with friends.

I think I hate my girlfriend.

But then, maybe it’s my fault. I don’t have an iPhone or an iPod. Everyone else does, and they act the same as her. I ask them for directions, and they fly by me. I trip over them in the street; they walk aimlessly, twitching to some unheard tune. Sometimes they hum or mumble indiscernable lyrics.

In Max Brooks‘ zombie classic World War Z, readers get a well thought out oral history of humanity’s fictional war with a zombie pandemic. He accounts for seemingly every way to handle it, from all viewpoints. The people who fight and survive; the people who are weak and die. The men who love their wives too much to kill them when they’ve been bitten. The gluttonous rich who bunker down in fortresses of hedonism and wait for the cavalry – or the world to end. But he never accounts for the people who are just so overwhelmed by the the numbers of the “other” that they decide to walk towards the zombie masses, and join them. It’s nice to be on the winning team, after all.

So, yes, maybe I should get an iPod. They make me angry, but maybe I should join them. Maybe I should forego human interaction, and turn in my years of poorly cultivated social skills for the gizmo. Maybe I should join the many…

… or not. I’d totally shoot my girlfriend in the face if she were bitten by a zombie.

Assemblyman Cymbrowitz’ mobile community office will be visiting the Kings Highway branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, Friday, October 16, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. A staff member will be on hand to help community residents with problems, answer questions and discuss local issues. The library is located at 2115 Ocean Avenue, near Kings Highway. For additional information please call (718) 743-4078.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed Gene Berardelli for City Council over the weekend, raising the stakes in his fight against sitting Councilman Lew Fidler.

In the release from the Berardelli camp, Bloomberg cited the candidate’s work with Brigham Street Park and his efforts in downzoning a portion of Sheepshead Bay as reasons hizzonah would lend his support to the first-time candidate for public office.

“I need a fighter like Gene Berardelli in the City Council so we can keep the city moving in the right direction. I strongly endorse Gene Berardelli in the race for City Council and urge the voters of the 46th district to support him too,” said Mayor Bloomberg in the release.

With just a little over three weeks left until the election, the endorsement’s effects are questionable. Berardelli probably wont be fundraising anymore, and his meager $3,000 or so of contributions is hardly enough to do such campaign basics as send mailers to the district’s residents. But he will appear on the Republican ballot in a year in which the Republican mayor has spent record amounts on media and other materials promoting himself and the party.

But while Berardelli is able to ride off the media-inundated coattails of the sitting mayor, it appears his opponent nailed the resources necessary to buy a little attention himself.

Councilman Fidler has received more than $63,000 in taxpayer funds after submitting a statement of need to the campaign finance board. Although Berardelli has not raised nearly enough money to be eligible for matching funds from the city, Fidler was able to get three times the amount he normally would by citing the district’s past turnout for a Republican mayor, as well as submitting 40 pages of documentation that included campaign coverage by Sheepshead Bites.