SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Source: Google Maps

Viktor Avavayev, who was riding in a limousine with two female companions, was crushed to death after the limo driver accidentally reversed and pinned his body against a parked car.

The limo was parking at Kings Highway and Bedford Avenue on Sunday. Avavayev and company had stepped out when the limo suddenly started rolling backwards.

“The vehicle started backing up because the driver didn’t park it properly,” said Yevgeniy Zilberman, a neighbor, to the New York Daily News.

The driver, Yan Krainert, raced to get into the car to stop it, however, instead of hitting the brakes, he pushed on the gas, which caused the car to reverse and push Avavayev between the limo and a parked car. The limo then dragged Avavayev’s body against several other parked cars.

The female passengers were forced to watch the gruesome scene.

“I just heard a woman screaming in Russian,” a witness told the Daily News. “I then saw one of the women bent over the man.”

One of the women slapped the driver in the face after she’d realized what he’d done.

A source believes that the driver may have been drunk at the time of the accident. Police took the driver into custody. He has been charged with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and DWI as of this morning, according to the New York Post.

Avavayev was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A traffic light that’s out-of-order due to the power outages still hobbling Sheepshead Bay caused a car accident this morning on Bedford Avenue and Voorhies Avenue.

Sure, it’s not unusual to see cars on the sidewalk in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the flooding from which caused many cars to float several feet from their parking spaces, but this one ended up there after confusion at the down traffic light.

“All the more reason why we need our power back,” writes tipster Richard K.

It does not appear anyone was injured in the accident.

Photo: Erica Sherman

A fire broke out yesterday afternoon at 4740 Bedford Avenue, and a neighbor said FDNY told her it might have been from a loose wire in the powerless home.

Lindsay H. writes:

One of the homes on Bedford btwn Voorhies and Shore Pkwy went on fire earlier today. FDNY just left and the NYPD isn’t there because the family is still not home. This block (except for the white building) still does not have power (and many don’t have hot water), this home included, which is terrifying considering the FDNY is saying the fire started in the basement most likely from a loose wire. The doorman/security guard for the white building called in the fire after seeing flames coming out of the chimney of this 2-fl + basement home. I don’t even want to think about the damage done.

My parents live on this block, in addition to families, and many elderly couples with no children helping them; and there is now a huge fear of not knowing what will happen when the power does turn on.

Felt I needed to share. There’s a lot of frustration on this often neglected block because everything looks okay. No downed trees or wires. But destroyed basement apartments (many have occupants living there) and over a week of no power (they were one of the first to go – early afternoon on Monday).

Photo by Erica Sherman

Here’s some happy news.

Roll ‘n Roaster proved to be one of the luckier establishments that faced Hurricane Sandy’s fury along Emmons Avenue, as the venerable cheez whiz paradise has rebounded quickly with minimal damage.

“We got lucky,” Roll ‘n Roaster General Manager Ayet Karce told Brooklyn Daily. “There was mud and sand so we had some heavy mopping to do, but that was about it.”

The restaurant was also lucky to be located between Bedford Avenue and Knapp Street, an area unaffected by power outages, so they were able to save perishable food products from a trip to the dump. This was good news in the face of sorrowful Twitter rumors, which reported the demise of the beloved fast food spot.

The timing couldn’t be better as tonight is the airing of Anthony Bourdain’s series finale of his hit Travel Channel show, “No Reservations,” in which he visits the venerable 40-year-old Southern Brooklyn institution.

As we previously reported, the globe-trotting Bourdain visited Roll ‘n Roaster in August to indulge in its onion rings and famous cheez whiz-slathered roast beef deliciousness before he kicks off his new show on CNN.

Correction (7:28 p.m.): Our apologies for incorrectly repeating Bay News’ / Brooklyn Daily’s erroneous information about there not being power outages on Emmons Avenue. We know that much of that stretch is without power, and apologize for the error.

Medgar Evers College. Source: Google Maps

Beginning today, the New York City Districting Commission will hold five public hearings — one in each of the city’s five boroughs — from October 2 to 11, 2012. The Brooklyn hearing will be held October 11 from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. inside the Medgar Evers College Founder’s Auditorium, 1650 Bedford Avenue.

The purpose of these hearings, which are open to the public, is for the NYC Districting Commission to hear testimony from the public concerning the initial phases of its work in drafting a new districting plan for the New York City Council. It will be the commission’s task to reconfigure all 51 City Council districts to reflect population shifts. The plan is slated to be submitted to the council by November.

Individuals wishing to pre-register for speaking time or to submit written testimony in advance may do so by signing up online at www.nyc.gov/districting. Individuals wishing to speak at any hearing will be provided up to three minutes of speaking time.

Prior to the hearings, you may submit written comments to the NYC Districting Commission by mail to: NYC Districting Commission, Attn: Jonathan Ettricks, 253 Broadway, 7th Fl.,New York, NY 10007, or by email at hearings@districting.nyc.gov on or before 5:00 p.m. on the date of the hearing. You must indicate in your correspondence the date of the hearing for which you are submitting your comments.

The hearing locations are accessible to those with physical disabilities. Individuals requesting an interpreter for sign language or any other language at any hearing should contact the NYC Districting Commission at hearings@districting.nyc.gov or by calling (212) 442-0256 in advance of the hearing, and reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate such requests.

With the backdrop of Rockin’ Ray Fiore’s heartfelt mural on the handball courts of Bill Brown Park (Avenue X and Bedford Avenue), more than one hundred mourners, neighbors, firefighters from Ladder Co. 169, 61st Precinct officers and local EMS responders gathered last night to remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001.

But it wasn’t just a tribute to those who passed and the heroes of the day, it was a passing of the torch from the eclectic neighborhood character who maintains the memorial mural to his son, who is taking on the responsibility after his father’s move out of Brooklyn.

Fiore moved to Michigan recently, removing from the neighborhood his colorful hand-painted car and, perhaps, one of Brooklyn’s most ebullient sons. His son, Ray Fiore, Jr., took his place, and last night marked the 31-year-old’s first visit to the mural on September 11.

He brought fire engine red and royal blue paint to touch up any chips in the names, as his father does during the event and throughout the year, and he was asked to add two more names to the mural. He spent much of the memorial ceremony up close to the mural, working on it diligently throughout the night, but said he really felt the significance of it when he was able to take a step back and admire it.

Ray Jr. led the mourners in saying the Our Father, like his father had done in years past. A note was read from “Rockin’ Ray” that sent his love in his absence, and the song “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” was played in honor of him.

Read more about the event and view photos and video.

Freelance photographer Marissa Wong has been chronicling the stories of Brooklyn’s longest street since November 2011 on her website, Bedford. In March, Marissa got in touch with Sheepshead Bites after stumbling upon the 9/11 memorial mural at Bill Brown Playground (Avenue X and Bedford Avenue), and asked us to put her in touch with its creator, Ray Fiore. The above video is what resulted, detailing the rise of the most uniquely Brooklyn memorial to emerge after the September 11 attack, and Wong wrote the following for Sheepshead Bites:

“It’s a League of Nations, we got a little bit of everybody,” laughed Regina Coyle when I asked her to say a little bit about Brooklyn.  We were standing in front of the Bedford Park 9/11 mural and Regina was telling me about when she lost her son, James Raymond Coyle, over 10 years ago.

She was right. Since moving to Brooklyn two years ago, I’ve been trying to capture that little bit of everybody with the Bedford Avenue Project – a collection of multimedia stories about the many different voices that make up Brooklyn’s longest street.  From a Hasidic rebel-turned-blogger to the locally renowned Queen of Williamsburg, the project has been a true ethnographic adventure, allowing me a sneak peek into the borough’s diverse hearts and souls.

Most recently, I was honored to meet the Bedford People’s Park 9/11 Memorial Committee and the infamous “Rockin’ Ray” Fiore. Listening to each of their candid stories, I was reminded of the “League of Nations” that is Brooklyn. “Ray, White & Blue” is the video piece I created from those conversations and a brief glimpse into the community of Sheepshead Bay.

I hope you’ll stay tuned for more voices, more stories, and more Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn/Bedford Park 9/11 Memorial and Candle Vigil is at Bill Brown Park, Avenue X and Bedford Avenue, at 6:30 p.m. today.

While the New York City Department of Transportation reconsiders the community’s request for increased traffic safety measures at the intersection of Emmons Avenue and Bedford Avenue for the umpteenth time, yet another accident occurred over the weekend.

Reader and Sheepshead Bay / Plumb Beach Civic Association member Tom Paolillo sent us the photos and the following:

Sunday morning, September 9th 2012….awakened by BANG..the sound of crunching metal and screeching skidding tires….this time the occupants of the small Toyota were injured when they were hit broadside by the van…The Toyota obviously could not see the approaching van while attempting to turn left onto to Bedford Ave.

A picture is worth a thousand words…

Indeed.

The Sheepshead Bay / Plumb Beach Civic Association has been demanding safety improvements to the intersection for several years. Most recently, they renewed their calls at their meeting last week, saying the site needs a left turn signal on the eastbound side of Emmons Avenue, and daylighting – a setback of parking to improve visibility – on the median.

Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo put a new request in to DOT last week, but the agency has denied similar requests for the location multiple times before.

The scene of an April 2011 accident on Bedford Avenue and Emmons Avenue.

Community Board 15 sent a request to the Department of Transportation yesterday, seeking a left turn signal and daylighting at the accident-prone intersection of Emmons Avenue and Bedford Avenue.

The corner, as we reported yesterday, is the site of frequent collisions, according to residents. Cars making a left from eastbound Emmons Avenue onto Bedford Avenue are forced to make a blind turn, as parked cars along the median block the view. We’ve reported on several accidents at the intersection.

The request went in after yet another accident this weekend, spurring members of the Sheepshead Bay / Plumb Beach Civic Association to renew their calls for the turn signal and daylighting, a safety measure that sets parking back several feet in order to increase visibility for oncoming traffic.

But Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo said that residents shouldn’t hold their breaths for DOT action.

“How many times have we requested this? This is not the first time we’ve requested this,” Scavo said. “Every now and then we get a call, ‘We need a left turn signal there.’ Fine. But we put in this request several times and it’s always been rejected.”

Scavo added that it can take up to four months for the agency to make their determination. DOT inspectors visit the site and count the number of vehicles making the left turn, as well as look at the intersection’s accident history, and take action dependent on internal criteria.

That leaves residents with little recourse for action, except repeating their request every few months.

“There’s nothing that [neighbors] can do. DOT goes there and does the study. If there is not a certain percentage of cars making that left, they wont do it,” Scavo said. “It doesn’t matter how many people they get letters from, it’s a DOT study and they have criteria and if it’s not there it’s not there.”

Following another car accident at the intersection of Emmons Avenue and Bedford Avenue, neighbors are renewing their calls for improved traffic safety measures before someone loses their life.

On Sunday, September 2, two cars collided as an eastbound vehicle traveling on Emmons Avenue sought to turn up Bedford Avenue, and a westbound car slammed into it. No one was seriously injured, but at least one group is saying it’s an ongoing problem.

“Vehicles driving east on Emmons that need to turn north onto Bedford will find it impossible to see cars traveling west on Emmons. Then, ‘WHAM….CRASH,’” said Sheepshead Bay / Plumb Beach Civic Association member Tom Paolillo, who told Sheepshead Bites about the accident and sent in the accompanying photo. “It is a regular occurrence.”

Paolillo said the corner needs a turn signal and a “No Parking Anytime” setback to prevent cars from parking at the end of the median so that oncoming cars can be seen during a turn.

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