Shot with the Apple iPhone 4S. Not too shabby.
Photo by George Burshteyn
Awww (Source: MTAPhotos via flickr)
In what invariably amounts to the MTA’s cutest press release ever, the Transit Authority has announced that six Peregine Falcon chicks have hatched this past month on top of both the Throngs Neck Bridge and the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.
According to the MTA release, the hatching of the baby falcon’s marks the 30th anniversary of the MTA Bridge and Tunnels’ participation with the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s nesting program. The MTA described the chicks, their homes and how they help the birds.
The newest MTA peregrines include two males and a female at Marine Parkway Bridge and two females and a male at the Throgs Neck Bridge. The Marine Parkway peregrine chicks hatched 215-feet atop the bridge’s Rockaway tower and the Throgs Neck chicks hatched 360-feet on the bridge’s Bronx tower.
“Other than providing the nesting box, our primary goal during mating season and until the chicks leave the nest is to stay out of their way,” said Marine Parkway Maintenance Superintendent Carlton Cyrus. There are no other costs associated with housing the peregrines.
That’s all very nice, but who cares, lets just enjoy more ridiculously cute images of the baby falcons courtesy of the MTA.
Adorable (Source: MTAPhotos via flickr)
Fuzzy Head (Source: MTAPhotos via flickr)
The Proud Papa Falcon (Source: MTAPhotos via flickr)
The Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition (FJCC), an organization comprised of a broad spectrum of community and business leaders dedicated to safeguarding the interests of the greater Flatbush Jewish community, has organized the second mayoral forum to take place locally.
The forum, to be held in Midwood, begins tonight at 8:00 p.m. Unlike last week’s forum, which did touch on topics of Jewish interest but also swung to broader issues for the general public, tonight’s forum will focus largely on frum issues.
According to organizers, Christine Quinn, Bill Thompson, Bill de Blasio, John Liu and Anthony Weiner have all confirmed their participation.
The event takes place at P.S. 193 Gil Hodges School, 2515 Avenue L (corner Bedford Avenue).
For more information, e-mail Flatbushjcc@gmail.com.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled the latest city recovery plan, NYC Build it Back. The program is designed to assist homeowners, landlords and tenants affected by the devastation of Superstorm Sandy. Build it Back costs $648 million and is financed by the initial round of the federal funding in the form of Community Development Block Grants.
According to the press release announcing the new measure, there are four pathways to help Superstorm Sandy victims return to sustainable homes:
- Repair: A NYC Build it Back professional contractor can help eligible participants whose homes require minor to moderate repairs. Registrants also have the option of selecting their own contractor within Federal and program guidelines.
- Rebuild: If a home is substantially damaged and needs to be rebuilt, qualifying participants can choose a home model that is designed specifically for their community, uses the best available resiliency standards and is designed by a NYC Build it Back developer. Alternatively, registrants can choose their own architect and contractor to develop and build their homes within Federal and program guidelines.
- Reimbursement: The City can also help participants recover eligible out-of-pocket costs for minor repairs already made to their homes that satisfy all Department of Housing and Urban Development and other requirements.
- Acquisition: Some owners may want to voluntarily sell their homes and in some cases, the City will be able to work with communities to strategically redevelop these properties in a smarter, more resilient way. Housing Recovery Specialists will be able to explain these options.
For more information or to register, people are encouraged to call 311 or to visit nyc.gov.
The Sheepshead Bay / Plumb Beach Civic Association will hold its monthly meeting tonight, June 4, at 7:30 p.m.
The meeting includes reports from local elected officials, law enforcement, and local organizations. It’s also an opportunity to discuss community issues and concerns with neighbors.
The meeting will be at The Waterford on the Bay, 2900 Bragg Street at the corner of Emmons Avenue. There is free parking and refreshments.
For more information, e-mail sbpbcivicassociation@hotmail.com.
Source: mikey k via flickr
The body of a decomposing woman was found in a Midwood home last night displaying a confessional note listing a bizarre motive. NBC NY is reporting that the note said, “I killed my wife she’s putting spells on me.”
The victim was identified as 57-year-old Yevonne Gefner. Her body was found inside her Avenue N home after neighbors called 911 complaining about a foul odor. According to an ABC report, police found Gefner’s body riddled with multiple stab wounds in the back, noting that when discovered, she had been dead for a week.
In perhaps accounting for the bizarre note which complained of witchcraft as a motive for the slaying, Gefner’s husband was subsequently found at Kings County Hospital’s psychiatric ward, where he had a broken neck and arm.
Yeshiva World News is reporting that the suspect may be the person who jumped in front of a Q train two weeks ago at Avenue J. That person was taken to Kings County Hospital at the time, the site notes.
Police were told by neighbors that the couple had been together for about two years.
Source: dank depot via flickr
Mayor Michael Bloomberg blasted medical marijuana advocates like local State Senator Diane Savino, declaring that the whole issue is a manufactured pretense for legalizing the drug. The Huffington Post is reporting that Bloomberg is adamantly opposed to Savino’s efforts to make medical marijuana legal statewide.
On John Gambling’s radio show, Bloomberg let loose a stream opinions on medical marijuana and marijuana in general.
“There is no medical. This is one of the great hoaxes of all time,” Bloomberg said. The mayor, who has already gone on record admitting that he smoked marijuana in his youth, cited the increased strength of present day weed as a factor for being an opponent on the issue, albeit in a folksy manner.
“The bottom line is, I’m told marijuana is much stronger today than it was 20, 30 years ago,” Bloomberg said.
What are we supposed to take from these statements? That it was okay for Bloomberg to enjoy marijuana in his youth, unpunished, but it is not okay for someone to enjoy it now just because somebody told him that the drug is much stronger today? Also, if that person is suffering from a terminal disease, they shouldn’t have access to it either?
Bloomberg also expressed concerns that if marijuana is legalized, drug dealers will just switch to selling harder drugs.
“[D]rug dealers have families to feed. If they can’t sell marijuana, they’ll sell something else. And the something else will be something worse. The push to legalize this is wrongheaded,” Bloomberg added.
First of all, more dangerous drugs have always been available to those seeking them. Drug dealers won’t be able to magically increase the market for cocaine or heroin, for instance, just because marijuana would be available legally. Who knows – maybe they’ll sell Bloomberg Terminals.
An actual expert on the issue, Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, associate member of the New York Academy of Medicine and vice-chair of NY Physicians for Compassionate Care, trashed Bloomberg’s off-the-cuff comments on the serious issue.
“Mayor Bloomberg’s statement that medical marijuana is a hoax is tantamount to saying that the moon landing was faked,” the Huff Post reported Aggarwal saying. “Marijuana, given in oral and inhaled forms, has been shown in large, gold-standard, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trials conducted at major medical centers to relieve pain and muscle spasm, and stimulate appetite and weight gain in patients with wasting syndromes.”
State Senator Diane Savino, who is co-sponsoring a bill that seeks to make medical marijuana legal, countered also Bloomberg’s freewheeling comments by focusing on those who might be helped by the measure.
“We’re talking about people with terminal illnesses, seizure disorders. We’re not talking about recreational use,” Savino said.
Towne Cafe’s editable ad
Sheepshead Bites is proud to introduce a new advertising option that gives our business supporters an immediate, effective way to keep our readers informed: dynamic ads that businesses can update by simply sending a text message, Facebook post or Twitter update.
The Towne Cafe, Sheepshead Bay’s oldest bar at 1418 Avenue Z, became the first business to use the technology, launching their ad this past Friday.
Towne is under new management, and co-owner Lee Morgan is looking to turn the bar around and make it a landmark destination for the community. To that end, Morgan and Towne Cafe now host daily events, with live music, karaoke and DJs almost every night of the week. Morgan, a long-time patron of the pub who wanted to bring back some of the bar’s old charm, will use our new editable ads to tell readers about events, specials and future developments at the business.
We had a great time showing Morgan how simple the tech is to use. All we did was save a phone number into his phone to which he sends a text message, and the text of the ad automatically changes. During the demo, an excited Morgan took our iPad and showed off the new ad to some of the bar’s patrons.
“This is incredible. It’s like magic,” said Morgan.
The text of the ad can also be changed by picking up on a businesses’ Facebook or Twitter updates (and even narrowed down, using a hashtag), or automatically from an RSS feed for businesses with a blog. It can also be configured to automatically update photos within an ad.
The technology has a small monthly charge, and advertisers can update their ads as frequently as they like.
Readers: keep an eye on the ads in our sidebar to learn about events and promotions from local businesses using this technology!
Advertisers: if you’d like to sign up to use this new feature, just e-mail advertising [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com or call (347) 985-0633.
Oberman
City Council candidate Igor Oberman is facing some heat for his leadership of the board of the 1,144-unit Trump Village 4, where some residents and former employees allege that he has abused his power and ruled with an iron fist.
A handful of dust-ups with residents and employees is now making its way into the race, with City & State and the New York Post picking up on the controversies.
This morning, City & State reported that Oberman has been the target of lawsuits from tenants and employees. They write:
As president of Trump Village’s co-op board, Igor Oberman has been sued by tenants on the verge of eviction, faces an age discrimination lawsuit from former employees and is accused of firing another longtime worker who represented other unionized employees at the co-op in a union-busting move.
… In January, Trump Village terminated Pierre Wyatt, a longtime porter at the Coney Island housing cooperative who was also the shop steward representing other union employees working there. Wyatt had taken abandoned flooring, according to one account, and wasn’t completely forthcoming about his actions when questioned. The Teamsters Local 804, however, saw Oberman’s move as union-busting, and the matter is now heading to arbitration.
In March, two female Trump Village employees in their early 60s sued Oberman after they lost their jobs, arguing that they were “harassed, verbally abused and intimidated for the purpose of replacing them with a more youthful staff,” according to a press release from their lawyer.
Prior to City & State’s report, the New York Post reported in April that residents complain Oberman has used eviction proceedings to solidify his control over the board.
One case involved Eugene Ovsishcher, a former soldier who returned home from a combat tour in Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Ovsishcher’s wife, a CPA, had previously been asking questions about board finances.
Ovsishcher, 43, was later denied a “service pet” dog to deal with his PTSD and then hit with an eviction order.
He eventually won the legal right to keep his pooch and apartment.
But his psychiatrist, Dr. Zinoviy Benzar, who provided medical testimony on Ovsishcher’s behalf and lives in the complex, was then hit with an eviction order — as were Benzar’s wife and mother-in-law, who own three Trump co-ops between them.
The eviction orders, alleging a failure to pay surcharges for air conditioners, are pending.
But the trio has struck back with a $4.5 million countersuit, charging they were politically targeted for revenge.
Another resident, Yuliya Bezvoleva, 33, an active Army reservist, is fighting an eviction order after she launched an anti-Oberman petition drive.
Co-op boards in New York City are guided by a confusing mess of procedures and formulas called the Business Corporation Law, and there is no oversight agency or independent commission dedicated to co-op compliance – leaving courts as the only resort for residents seeking redress. Abuse allegations have been noted at co-ops here and throughout the city, though the allegations rarely find their way to court due to costly legal expenses.
At Trump Village 4, residents have sought to make their war public in an attempt to cripple Oberman’s campaign, launching a website dedicated to attacking his reign as board president.
Oberman declined to discuss the matter with Sheepshead Bites, instead forwarding us to his campaign spokesperson, who was not available for comment. However, the spokesperson disputed the allegations to City & State:
Chelsea Connor, a campaign spokeswoman, said that Wyatt, the former shop steward, was fired after he was accused of theft, and noted that a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board was dismissed. The two employees in their 60s had failed to deposit a $47,000 check, she said. As for the lawsuits regarding the eviction proceedings, Connor said that the building has had a no-pet policy for nearly 50 years and that another tenant had rewired an apartment and that it failed to meet fire code safety regulations.
Oberman will face off against District Leader Ari Kagan, Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo and Flatbush Shomrim founder Chaim Deutsch in the Democratic primary. In the general, former State Senator David Storobin is expected to take the Republican line.
