Yesterday marked the 26th Anniversary of the 61st Precinct’s Night Out Against Crime. Organized by the 61st Precinct Community Council, the national event symbolizes the efforts of communities all over the country to take the streets back from crime and use them for positive.
State Senator Marty Golden, Councilman Michael Nelson, CB15 Chair Theresa Scavo and others were in attendance to express gratitude towards the officers of the 61st. Eight-year-old Monica Hershkovich performed “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie, and the Top Scholar dance troop showed their skills. Click the link below to view a slideshow-style gallery of the event.
A beautiful photo of Brighton Beach from amateur photographer and musician Jason Hochman.
Sheepshead Bay, the once working-class neighborhood where all housing is now “luxury” and all markets are now “gourmet”, is getting a new class of baby socialites demanding pampered care with silk baby wipes. That’s right - the most luxurious day care center in Brooklyn is opening its doors here in Sheepshead Bay.
We spotted this banner in front of 1018 Avenue Y (near Coney Island Avenue). We didn’t ask anyone, but we’re assuming this means your little sweety-poo can be swaddled in Gucci blankets, fed from diamond studded nipples, and order their illegal immigrant maids around to pack up their Jack Rabbit blocks into their Louis Vittone baby bags.
I went to Big Apple Day Care on Avenue X near Ocean Avenue. Surely these babies will goo-goo ga-ga down their noses at me.
By the way, could someone please shoot me in the face?
We’re a little late to this story, but apparently last Thursday our ‘hood played host to Drew Barrymore for a scene in her upcoming movie Going the Distance. Reader Arthur Borko snapped these shots as he was driving by Rasputin, the monolithic Russian restaurant over on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue X.
A small crowd thronged around Rasputin’s entrance, while others poked around the equipment trucks. As far as we know, there was no sighting of The Drew, but if anyone out there saw anything worth mentioning, fill us in!
Going the Distance is an observational comedy about a young couple navigating their way through the perils of a long distance relationship who quickly discover that “going the distance” might cost them everything they have, including one another. In addition to Barrymore, it stars Justin Long, Christina Applegate, Jim Gaffigan and Rob Riggle.
A few weeks ago we told you about the Waterpod, a sea-based experiment in sustainable living. Back then, the Waterpod had just sailed in to Sheepshead Bay. It was new – one of its first stops – and we were wide-eyed with excitement over a cool eco-project in our bay.
Well, it turns out living the green-life aquatic is harder than the four crew members imagined.
“It’s been a lot more work than any of us have expected,” Alison Ward, one of the crew who’s been on the boat about six weeks and plans to stay at sea until October, told the Daily News. “I kind of thought we’d just be able to float around.”
According to the article, the Waterpod has been beset by heavy downpours, algae explosions, bugs and – would you believe it? – waves.
To be honest, we’re not all that surprised. Living on the water is rough. And living sustainably is rough. So who woulda thunk putting those two together would’ve been a bitch?
The Daily News says the crew’s chief objective is to get New Yorkers thinking. Well, it’s got me thinking about how, when the destructive edge of climate change sets in, or when zombies take over our inner-cities, I’m not heading to the waves – I’m heading to the hills.
Thanks, Waterpod. In case I wasn’t sure about who to follow when the world begins to fall apart, I now know, I’ll follow the soldiers and the survivalists. Not the artists.
Last night’s concert at Asser Levy Park was like being high on nostalgia. Well, for me, anyway.
Apparently, some people in the crowd found that the only way they could cope with hearing the heavenly voices of Frankie Valli and Connie Francis was with alcohol. One man in the crowd was drunken-yellsinging out so loud when Frankie and his Four Seasons were making us swoon. But, no one said anything to him, because they all seemed to understand the emotion behind the outburst.
Still others wanted to feel even “higher” than the heights to which we were being taken by these legendary acts that they were lighting up their joints. No bother — because, when Frankie started to sing – “You’re just too good to be true. Can’t take my eyes off you. You’d be like Heaven to touch,” – everyone’s attention was completely riveted to the sound emanating from the bandshell.
The night started off with Connie Francis. This lady is an American legend who conquered the world with her multilingual crooning. Her voice and the amplification were not strong enough to overcome the chattering crowd, but when she started singing the old familiar verse of one of my most all-time favorite songs, “Evening shadows make me blue. When each weary day is through. How I long to be with you — my happiness..”, my eyes were suddenly fixated on the moon, with her voice as the only sound that existed in Brooklyn South for just those few minutes.
For those of you who, unfortunately, missed the concert: I’m sorry, so sorry. This concert, with the clear skies and these two excellent performers, was more than just a nostalgic high. It was also a natural high under the Coney Island sky.
[My apologies to you for not having any pictures. Photography is not allowed and as the media seats had already been filled by the time I wrote in to Marty Markowitz's office, I was one of the masses who were not allowed to take photos. Although breaking the Borough President's rules wasn't much of a problem for some -- or, so I heard, anway -- when glass contraband went smashing into pieces onto the ground.]
Things get weirder by the day in NYC politics, and now it has taken a turn to the utterly bizarre.
A Sheepshead resident is calling Mayor Bloomberg a tyrant following the actions of hizzonah’s Royal Guard (a.k.a. the NYPD), who have been trying to seize the man’s antique rifle. Michael Littlejohn, a Colonial American reenactor, had a replica Revolutionary War-era flint-lock rifle custom-made by a Tennessee-based blacksmighth. The only problem is, he didn’t have a gun permit. Now he’s threatening to sue the city for taking the fight too far. Here’s an excerpt from an article in the Daily News:
“This is the last legal gun that you can have without registration in New York,” Littlejohn said. “And yet Mayor Bloomberg is driven crazy by my flintlock gun – the one that won the American Revolution.”
Littlejohn fired the first shot when he hired a Tennessee blacksmith to recreate the vintage rifle. It arrived at his Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, apartment in June – followed quickly by city cops.
Police claim it’s illegal for Littlejohn to keep the flintlock without a gun license.
Littlejohn, 50, cites the earliest American patriots as his inspiration while refusing to surrender his firearm or apply for a license.
The social worker is also clinging to a little-known exemption in the city’s strict gun laws.
The loophole allows license-free ownership of “antique firearms” – defined as rifles that require the bullet and gunpowder to be loaded separately.
Littlejohn’s rifle appears to fit the bill.
Loading the weapon, he explains, is a multistep process that takes several pokes with a ramrod and up to a minute to complete.
To fire, the rifle relies on a sharpened piece of flint that produces a spark when the trigger is pulled. That point is moot, Littlejohn says: He doesn’t own gunpowder or bullets.
That’s not enough to make the NYPD retreat.
The cops visited Littlejohn’s apartment and sat down this month with the Tennessee blacksmith who forged the rifle.
The lead detective on the case told Littlejohn’s lawyer that he had orders “from higher-ups” to pursue the case, according to an e-mail the lawyer sent to Littlejohn.
Alert: We’re taking a break from our regular Shopping Cart Series to bring you this important message: An APB has been issued for all missing shopping carts.
Sheepshead Bay resident, Stefanee Rivera, sent us this photograph of a sign posted at the Avenue Y Super Stop and Shop store.
The sign is a simple request for shoppers to be on the alert for stray shopping carts belonging to the store.
Photographer, Lisanne Anderson, also posted her signature-style picture of a similar sign on Flickr, with a note implying that the store’s request for people to be on the lookout for stray carts might be possibly due to our Shopping Cart Series.
One store supervisor we spoke with told us that he doesn’t read our blog. So, this sign might have been generated by another member of management simply based on the number of missing shopping carts.
While, we are more than willing to offer up any information about missing, misled, lost, indentured, enslaved, kidnapped (and possibly drugged) shopping carts around our neighborhood — we’re sure not feeling responsible for making Super Stop and Shop feel responsible. It’s more than likely that there really is a problem with our streets being littered with carts that ought to be safe at home, instead.
(Photo by Stefanee Rivera)
(Photo courtesy of gkjarvis via Flickr)
Given that we’re still fuming over the coming termination of B express service, we thought we’d use another subway-themed photo. And remember: write your representatives about these cuts!
Update: Sheepshead Bites super-tipster, Arthur Borko first told us about this story this morning, and provided the attached photos. Apparently, Borko did some investigating afterwards and filled us in on a few details. He spoke to a witness to the accident, Rob Zalesh of Atlantic Bagels, who said it occured when a white van traveling west on Emmons attempted to make a left turn. The eldery driver had a green left-turn-only light. Unfortunately, the light was also green for a woman, in her mid-30s, driving in the opposite direction. Because there was an error in the light’s timing, they both had green lights and ended up colliding. While the damage to the cars looks bad, we are unaware of the condition of the drivers, or any passengers.
Original post:
It appears there was a bad accident on Emmons Avenue and Shore Boulevard around 10 o’clock this morning. We’re working to find out the details, but a reader sent these photos so you can see for yourself how bad the damage was. In the photo above, it seems like the driver was still in the car when these photos were taken, perhaps because they were injured or stuck.
