The NYPD issued a Silver Alert for Simona Ortiz, an 80-year-old Hispanic woman who was last seen leaving her residence near West 12th Street and Avenue W wearing a black jacket, black pants, and black shoes in Brooklyn.
Ortiz went missing yesterday at 6:00 p.m. She is described as being 4’6″ tall, 85 pounds, grey hair and brown eyes.
If seen, please call 911 immediately.
The northbound Ocean Parkway service road is closed between Avenue V and Avenue W, after an 18-wheel truck attempting to turn onto the road struck a tree, ripping open its haul.
The truck was turning from Avenue W onto Ocean Parkway’s service road and could not complete the turn. It seems the accident occurred shortly before noon.
Reader Allan Shweky sent in the above photo, showing the extent of the damage to the truck. Police are on the scene, and have closed the road.
Thanks, too, to Allan Rosen, who also tipped us off to the accident, and sent in a nearly identical photo.
UPDATE (1:50 p.m.): James W. just sent in a photo showing the truck from the front:
This is a breaking news story and may contain inaccuracies. We will update it as more information becomes available. If anyone has more information or additional photos, please send them to tips (at) sheepsheadbites (dot) com.
A two-car collision occurred on East 19th Street and Avenue W at around noon today, resulting in one very messed up Lexus.
Nolastname provided the photos and the following tip:
the Black Lexus was traveling north on e19, The buick was traveling west on W. Buick was traveling fast and ran stop sign.
Notice the damage to the buick. I said to the owner of the lexus I can’t believe it crumbled like that. He said they are built like that, crumble zones.
Hundreds turned out for the 29th National Night Out Against Crime, celebrated locally in the yard behind the 61st Precinct (2575 Coney Island Avenue) on Tuesday.
Kids played on giant inflatable amusements, while their parents devoured food supplied by ChopStix Chinese Restaurant (3790 Nostrand Avenue), as well burgers and hot dogs cooked up by volunteers from the 61st Precinct Community Council. Later, a small fleet of antique automobiles rumbled up Gravesend Neck Road, pulling up alongside the inflatable rides for kids and adults to gawk at.
Surveillance video via NY Post
Authorities have nabbed a man they say stole many of the 30 manhole covers in the last two months in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
The New York Post reports that they’ve arrested Andrew Modica, 46, in connection with the theft of Con Edison’s 320-pound cast iron covers, which he confessed to selling for about 12 1/2 to 15 centers per pound – or approximately $40 each. They cost the company $200 each to replace.
He was busted yesterday, when officers pulled him over in a stolen pickup truck near his home on 67th Street and 21st Avenue in Bensonhurst. He is charged with criminal possession of stolen property and criminal impersonation – the latter due to the fact that he dressed as a Con Edison worker in the course of his crimes.
According to the Post, Modica stole to fuel his addiction to crack, cocaine and heroin.
Source: niznoz/Flickr
Con Edison issued a press release yesterday, informing New Yorkers that thieves have stolen more than 30 manhole covers in the last two months, leaving pedestrians and cars to deal with large gaping holes in the ground. They wrote:
Brazen thieves are endangering New Yorkers by stealing manhole covers at an alarming rate, and Con Edison is asking customers to help catch those responsible.
More than 30 manhole covers have been stolen in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx since early March, presumably by thieves selling the covers for scrap metal, and leaving lethal holes in streets and sidewalks. Con Edison is working closely with the NYPD on the problem.
“Stealing manhole covers is dangerous,” said Milovan Blair, Con Edison Vice President for Brooklyn-Queens Electric Operations.”Anyone who steals these covers creates a serious hazard for pedestrians and motorists.”
The company said witnesses have described individuals dressed in utility apparel, but without any Con Edison or other utility markings, prying open manhole covers using a car jack, loading the covers onto pick-up trucks, and then driving away.
The company said anyone who spots suspicious individuals working near manholes, or removing the covers, should call 911 immediately. They should also report any open manholes – even if they are barricaded – to Con Edison at 1-800-75CONED
According to the New York Times, 30 in two months is quite an alarming number given that, in a normal year, only two or three disappear. They also note that scrapper might get $30 from a dealer willing to take in obviously stolen goods, but Con Edison pays about $200 for the lids. The rise in costs, of course, are likely to be passed on to consumers.
One tipster, Auxil B., got in touch with Sheepshead Bites to let us know this scourge has already hit the neighborhood. A manhole cover recently went missing on East 28th Street, between Avenue V and Avenue W.
I know, I know – you’re all tired of hearing about last week’s National Grid gas outage along Ocean Parkway in Gravesend. And, after sounding off about the lack of coverage in other media, I thought we were pretty much done with it, too.
But, apparently, one more entity wants to make sure their voice is heard on the matter: National Grid itself.
The company produced a video on YouTube to help visualize the tremendous amount of resources deployed, not the least of which was 300 crews working around the clock for most of the week. It also shows some of the on-site and off-site planning and logistics that went into the effort. Clearly, it must have been an exceptional operation for National Grid to go out of their way to showcase it.
How do you think National Grid did in responding to the Ocean Parkway gas outage?
National Grid natural gas began pumping through all the Gravesend pipelines on Saturday, after workers finished pumping out 50,000 gallons of water. It capped off a five-day ordeal for 1,200 households forced to go without hot water and other amenities.
The company will now begin refilling the 160 excavation sites they dug throughout the neighborhood.
On Sunday, they issued the following press release announcing the restoration of service, and thanking the community for their cooperation:
As of Saturday, all customers affected by the Gravesend natural gas outage have been contacted to have their appliances re-lit. All have been visited for re-lights, 93 percent have been restored, National Grid is coordinating around the customers’ schedules and working with plumbers on a few sites to safely restore the remaining locations.
The extensive restoration effort involved purging over 50,000 gallons of water from about four miles of gas main spanning an area of 46 blocks after a high-pressure water main leak sent thousands of gallons of water into the local gas system.
Over 300 crews have worked around-the-clock since the outage began. The crews have dug over 160 excavations to support the water pumping effort. Some of the excavations will remain open for a period in order for National Grid to monitor that additional pumping is not required. These excavations around the neighborhood are clearly marked, but National Grid urges residents to be extra aware of their surroundings and use caution, especially at night.
Once all repairs are permanent the excavations will be filled and roads and sidewalks will be restored and paved. In addition, over the next several weeks the company will continue to have trucks and crews in the area completing work to restore the gas system to normal operation.
Customers should call National Grid at 718-643-4050 if they have any questions or additional service needs.
“We can’t thank the community enough for their cooperation and appreciate their patience as we complete the remaining service re-lights,” said Robert DeMarinis, National Grid vice president, New York Gas. “We will continue to work in and with the community on the permanent restoration effort in the coming weeks.”
We got an e-mail from National Grid yesterday afternoon informing us that service is now available to 100 percent of the area along Ocean Parkway that has been without gas since Tuesday.
The company completed pumping 46,000 gallons of water out of flooded gas pipes and reopened the lines in full yesterday. By the afternoon, National Grid had visited 900 of the 1,200 households affected to turn the gas back on and relight appliances.
They continued to make the rounds to the remaining 300 households, only needing access to the homes from the landlord to relight it.
Natural gas service to 1,200 Gravesend homes was cut after a high-pressure water main leak on Ocean Parkway and Avenue U erupted on Tuesday. Thousands of gallons of water gushed into a 12-inch low-pressure National Grid gas main.
UPDATE (5:33 p.m.): Here’s the latest from National Grid. Looks like they may theoretically restore 100 percent service today after all, assuming they can access the homes:
More than 50 percent have been restored (about 600 meters).
An additional 20 percent (about 200 meters) are available for re-light once we have access to the homes. We are contacting customers and leaving a note to let them know that we need access to their homes to re-light the appliances.
Restoration efforts continue, we are pumping water out of the remaining sections of the gas main so that we can make the remaining 30 percent (400 meters) available for re-light by the end of the day. So far more than 32,000 gallons of water have been removed from the system.
We will be onsite over the weekend to continue to re-light customers based on their availability.
Original post:
National Grid’s spokesperson Karen Young just got in touch with us with an update on the Ocean Parkway natural gas situation. She writes:
Since the last update, we restored service to 40 percent and we’re in the process of re-lighting another 20 percent as access to the homes becomes available. We have pumped out approximately 32,000 gallons of water. Crews continue to work hard today.
Natural gas service to 1,200 Gravesend homes was cut after a high-pressure water main leak on Ocean Parkway and Avenue U erupted on Tuesday. Thousands of gallons of water gushed into a 12-inch low-pressure National Grid gas main, and workers must go door-to-door to relight appliances.
