NYPD, FDNY and EMS vehicles planted themselves on the corner of East 15th Street and Avenue Z this morning around 8:45 a.m. Though their flashing lights remained on, no emergency could be seen.
Officers in the NYPD car and the EMS crew were both filling out reports, while the firefighters were not in sight. An officer in the car wouldn’t say what the incident was but noted, “Nothing major.”
Commuters at the bus stop said they did not know what the commotion was about, and whatever the incident was did not appear to delay trains.
Anyone know what happened here?
Just a month after we corrected naysayers and pointed out this spot is doing just fine, the final commercial tenants of the residential-retail development on Ocean Avenue and Avenue Z are either open or gearing up to open.
The latest to welcome customers is Voyage Unisex Hair Salon, another in a long line of spiffed-up Sheepshead Bay hair salons offering the works (including manicures, pedicures, waxes and all kinds of stuff I don’t know anything about). To celebrate their grand opening, they’re doing all haircuts for the supremely mediocre price of $15. They’re also hiring, so if you have good hands and a penchant for taking aerosol fumes to the head, give a call.
The other new business, which is not yet open and is only heralded by a cardboard sign in the door, is Chipp Neapolitan Pizza (and thank you, BrooklynQ, for catching this and sending the photo). With two buses stopping in front of the store and no other pizzeria for several blocks, the business should do very well.
Good luck to all the new businesses of the now totally booked development.
One of the neighborhood places that’s doubling as a receptacle for illegal dumping is the municipal lot on Avenue Z and East 17th Street. The spot is maintained by DOT, so garbage is removed fairly frequently. But in between pickups, you can almost always find garbage bags and empty boxes there.
Well, one quick-thinking business owner decided to take advantage of her proximity to the lot. Looking to save money on pickups, she’s started dropping off her stuff here. But the genius made one mistake: leaving labels on the trash that clearly show her business name and address.
Keep reading to see what business has been dumping illegally.
Last July, when we reported that the development on the corner of Ocean Avenue and Avenue Z was nearly complete, a couple of commenters began laying into this project and many others along Ocean Avenue. One called these developments “nondos,” and they all pointed out that the area’s new units appear to have problems selling.
Well, scratch that for the Avenue Z spot.
The mixed-use building that once housed John J. Healey Funeral Home looks like it’s just about booked up, and in less than a year after its completion. All of the residential units up top look occupied, and a handful of businesses have moved into the ground floor.
Most notably, perhaps, is the new 99¢ and Up store. The business is taking up two of the five storefronts, including one on the side of the building (pictured), which wraps around the interior to a front entrance. Next to that, an oral surgeon has put up signage. The remaining storefronts don’t have “For Lease” signs up, and it looks like some work is going on inside, so it’s possible they’re already booked as well.
Not bad for a corner everyone said would be doomed to emptiness.
It’s been just two days since this garbage can appeared on Avenue Z and East 14th Street, and it’s already overflowing. Residential pickup for East 14th Street is Tuesdays and Fridays, so this can should have been emptied yesterday. It wasn’t.
But beyond the Sanitation Department’s failure to deliver service, we’re getting to witness a very interesting phenomenon with this newly placed trash bin. This corner was previously garbage free. Sure, you had the occasional drifting plastic bag or paper cup, but compared to the sidewalk around the train station, it was positively speckless.
As you can already see in the photo above, that’s changing. Trash from the packed can is falling onto the sidewalk, soon to be taken for a ride by a gust of wind.
No can, no garbage in the streets. Give a can, it’s trash city.
Continue Reading »
A new Sanitation Department litter basket appeared on the corner of East 14th Street and Avenue Z this morning, making us wonder if the agency is finally showing concern for the torrent of trash pouring daily onto Sheepshead Bay’s streets.
At the same time, we’ve heard from a smattering of residents that the new garbage pickups that went into effect on July 1 has been improving the situation.
Have you noticed any new garbage cans in your area? Has the situation improved since July 1?
A three-story building will soon be erected at 2409 Avenue Z, the original location of Tre Fratelli Deli. Some time in mid-June, the developer, 2409 Ave Z, LLC, tore down the existing structure to make way for the new mixed-use building.
Here’s what it used to look like:
According to Department of Buildings records, the new 33-foot-tall building will have 8,631 square feet of space, split between residential use (7,621 sq. ft.) and the ever-present “community facility,” (1,010 sq. ft.), a term rarely used to actually indicate a facility for community use, just a space they label as such to get a greater floor-area ratio (FAR).
A variance issued to the developer in 2007 gave permission to construct the triangular building with a 22-foot-wide curb cut for three cars (a curb cut no larger than 15 feet, and space for five cars are required under zoning law). The new construction will have five residential units, according to the variance documents. You can see the proposed layout here.
The demolition of the building raised complaints from a neighbor, who said they weren’t notified of the work and the shaking was causing potentially unsafe conditions in the adjacent building. They were issued no violations.
Good, bad, amazing, destructive? Your thoughts?
By now, readers must know that Mister Figaro, the Singing Stylist of 1919 Avenue Z, is one of my favorite Sheepshead Bay barber shops.
So it pained me to discover yesterday that the shop is closed, if only temporarily. The building’s ceiling and light fixtures collapsed, leaving dust and rubble everywhere. A sign now hangs in the window, informing clients:
To all customers,
We will be closed due to falling ceiling and light fixtures inside of store. Hope to reopen soon. Call 718-332-2122 to check if reopened.
Inside, you can see a lot of the mess and damage, and it looks like cleanup is already underway. However, a Department of Buildings Order to Vacate also hangs in the window, and if that came while they were doing the work, it’s possible the DOB deemed it unsafe. A neighbor didn’t know about the vacate order, but told us the owners still plan to repair the shop and reopen soon.
While the developer at 1508 Avenue Z was prepping their lot for a nine-story building yesterday, these guys were straightening up the long bedraggled property across the street.
Bought in 2005 for almost $7.6 million, this barren piece of crap has sat and done nothing since then. Word is, he’s trying to sell it with plans to build a 14-story building, but we’re told that’s unlikely to ever unfold.
To its credit, the owner – registered as 16 Ave Z LLC – does a fair job keeping the property trimmed and clean. But it’s still blight.
We’re also told efforts to buy the property, or to lease the lot for summery activities like a flea market, have been shot down. The owner apparently wants what can only be described as a shit ton of money.
And for his greed, we all suffer.
The owner of the controversial development proposed for 1501 Sheepshead Bay Road (through to 1508 Avenue Z) began clearing the lot this morning.
With two dump trucks and a wood-chipper lined up on Avenue Z, workers began pulling out garbage, weeds, trees and… well, more garbage. This was a property that we’ve previously heard numerous complaints about garbage, poison ivy and other nastiness tangled in the fence.
While taking photos, I ran into property owner George Krasanakis. (I didn’t have a pen or paper, so our discussion is solely from memory.) He said that, regardless of one’s opinion on the development, positive impacts need to be highlighted, and the environmental cleanup is an achievement worth recognizing.
“Have you ever seen that stuff?” he said. “There’s garbage, waste, rats, raccoons – all kinds of junk. Nobody can say getting rid of this is a bad thing.”
Keep reading for a closeup of the cleaned lot, as well as some updates to the Krasanakis’ plans
