SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

(Source: NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation

UPDATE (5/23/2013 @ 11:15 a.m.): Sorry beach goers, the new Coney Island and Brighton Beach modular comfort stations won’t be finished by Memorial Day. According to a report by the New York Daily News, the new stations won’t be ready for this weekend and temporary toilets will be put in place instead.

The futuristic Coney Island and Brighton Beach bathrooms are almost in place as workers from the New York City Parks Department finish their work this week.

The new stations, which cost $1.5 million each, have brought anger from residents of the Oceana luxury condominiums (50 Oceana Drive West) who are upset that the new bathrooms disrupt their ocean view.

Despite their protests, Parks Department officials insist that the bathrooms are necessary to handle the huge crowds of people who visit the beaches of Coney Island every year.

Anywho, does that ramp on the left, leading to that RV-in-the-sky, look a little steep? We’ll have to get over there and see what these things are like first-hand.

Participants in this year’s Autism Walk.

When the Southern Brooklyn community wants to raise awareness for a good cause, they know how to do it – even in stormy weather.

On Sunday, May 19, approximately 170 Southern Brooklyn locals gathered at the New York Aquarium to walk 1.2 miles of the boardwalk to Coney Island Avenue. Together, they marched until Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton Beach to raise awareness for autism.

Lilach Koch, the Special Needs Program director at the Shorefront Y, said that walks like this are vital to create greater knowledge and education about autism, as well as raise funds.

“This will create a community that recognizes and accepts individuals with autism and supports their families,” Koch said.

The three main goals of the walk? To educate, to recognize, and to gain support for the programs for disabilities.

“It’s important that the leaders of the community understand that it’s a great cause. We are here. We need your support. These programs are scarce,” Koch said.

Two other local Jewish Community Centers – the JCH of Bensonhurst and Kings Bay Y – collaborated on the effort.

Autism is a developmental disorder of brain function. Characteristics typically include impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and non-verbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests.

According to AutismSpeaks.org, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify 1 in 88 American children on the autism spectrum. Statistically, there are more children affected by autism than diabetes, cerebral palsy, or Down syndrome combined.

The event saw well known community figures like Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and a host of community volunteers.

“Our mission is to strengthen the skills of our clients and support them and their families from early childhood to adulthood. We believe in our developmentally disabled clients and direct them to become more independent, functional and happy individuals,” Koch added.

Koch explained that many of these programs are free to the community, and that Southern Brooklyn families cannot afford many of the more expensive options available.

“We do understand our families’ needs on both the practical and emotional levels, and we constantly seek for channels to provide families with as many free and low cost services and programs as possible,” said Koch.

Karreell Pereira, a Shorefront Y member, visits the community center weekly with her husband and young boys.  Her two sons, age seven and eight, were at the event as well, supporting after-school classmates.

“It means a lot to me, being around other parents. It opens my eyes. It shows me how other parents operate, and shows me how blessed I am,” Pereira said. “We are capable of making a drastic change. These programs need to be nourished and should be promoted.”

“They love it here,” she said. “It opens their eyes to what’s really going on in our community. It helps you see not only your situation, but other people’s situations.”

Currently, the Shorefront Y offers free after-school programs for children ages 5 to 13, a Sunday Funday social skills recreational program for children ages 5 to 12, and a series of other educational workshops for parents and families. They hope to support families in need.

Michelle Pisani-Hinojo said that rain or shine, she will support this walk for years to come. Her 11-year-old daughter, Amber, has autism.

“The weather put a damper on the event, but not on the spirit. It makes me feel like I’m not alone. The public is becoming aware. It feels good that people are willing to work together for awareness,” Pisani-Hinojo said.

“It’s symbolic, you know? Some days will be sunny days, and other day’s it’ll rain,” Pisani-Hinojo said. “Even on the bad days, you need to stay strong and still be supportive. We can’t give up.”

I’m Convinced.

Are we alone? Are the aliens visiting Southern Brooklyn? Here at Sheepshead Bites we have informed you on cases of mysteriously missing UFO hunters and the launching of a specialized UFO hotline but never an actual sighting.

Well, it looks like extra-terrestrial activity is indeed buzzing about our area. A reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent us the following e-mail concerning a UFO her grandmother was convinced she saw hovering over Manhattan Beach this weekend.

Good Morning Ned and Sheepshead Bites,

Ok before you send this e-mail over to trash bin, hear me out. I’m not one of those UFO believers who wear tin foil on their head walking around with a transistor radio.

But yesterday night, around 9 pm, my grandmother, who lives in Brighton beach (Brighton 13th) with windows facing Sheepshead/Manhattan Beach area, drove me nuts last night, telling me that there was something cigar shaped, red/pale red in color hanging over one of the buildings towards the Manhattan beach area.

She had somehow convinced my mother that there was something there as well, she lives in the same building as me, with windows facing the same way. I did not see anything.

Today, when grandma figured out how to e-mail pictures, she sent me the picture attached – Apparently whatever the blue rectangle is with some light around it, is what she claims was glowing red and not something she had seen before.

Anyways, was there any one else reporting something amiss in the neighborhood(s)?

Sorry for the grainy image, granny’s phone is not the newest model.

Also, please don’t use my name if you add this to the blog or facebook,( i feel ridiculous e-mailing this as is) You can use the picture tho.

Thank You.

An attendee at the Be Proud Foundation’s Victory Day dinner last week.

Immigrants from the former Soviet Union celebrated Victory Day on May 9, honoring those who fought in the Great Patriotic War – better known to Americans as World War II – with uniformed veterans sipping vodka and chowing down at events throughout Brighton Beach.

Victory Day marks the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union on May 9, 1945, nearly four years after Adolf Hitler’s forces invaded during Operation Barbarossa. It remains an important holiday in Russia and the former Soviet states. Historians estimate that between 9 million and 14 million military personnel perished in the fighting, along with between 12 million to 17 million civilians – the highest count in both categories of all nations involved in World War II.

Organizations including the Be Proud Foundation and Shorefront Y of Brighton/Manhattan Beach held events in honor of the holiday last week, and auto clubs toured Southern Brooklyn neighborhoods honking horns and flying flags from former Soviet nations.

A Brighton Beach family away on vacation was victimized by a burglar over the weekend, but the thief’s acts were all caught on a nanny cam.

On Satuday night around 9 p.m., the crook broke into the home of Alexey Chizhov by entering through a back window. He made off with cash,  jewelry and computer, according to a Gothamist report.

There may not have been any lead on the thief’s identify, had Chizhov not turned on his nanny cam on a whim.

“That day when we were leaving to Washington, I decided to put it on. The cameras were not obtained for security purposes, because we’ve never had any burglars in our household, but I was like, ‘Why not?’” Chizhov told NBC NY.

Anyone with information on the crime is encouraged to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. You can also visit the Crime Stoppers website by clicking here.

Who left their ugly RV on the beach?

We’ve received a lot of e-mails these last few days about what’s going on at Brigham Street, south of Emmons Avenue. The stretch of street that abuts the waterway was been closed off by police, and cranes, barges and construction equipment have taken up the space since Monday.

No, it ain’t the beginning of Brigham Street Park. You’ll have to wait a few more years for that one.

The answer lies in a post we did a few days ago where we updated about the new Brighton Beach and Coney Island bathrooms. In it, we also included the schedule of street closures that goes along with it. Among the closures:

Brigham Street South of Emmons Avenue from midnight Monday, May 6, to 6 a.m. Friday, May 10.

That’s because the new stations arrive in one piece. That’s right – huge, truck-sized structures – barreling through New York City’s streets. That, understandably, didn’t seem like such a good idea to local planners. So, instead, the structures arrive by barge, are lifted off it by a crane, placed onto a truck, taken to their location, lifted off the truck by a crane, and installed on the concrete piles already installed – much to the chagrin of local residents.

Brigham Street appears to be the area planners identified as the best, most accomodating option to make that first move from barge to truck. So that’s what all the commotion is about.

Oh, and the bathrooms have arrived. The one at the top of this post was placed on Brighton Beach this morning, and photographed by reader Ira Rubinsky. Nope, that’s not an abandoned RV on the beach…

Here’s the view of the crane at Brigham, as seen from the Breakers:

Photo by Albert

The National Weather Service issued a sudden Flash Flood Warning shortly before 8:30 a.m. and lasting until 9:15 a.m., as a torrent of rainfall came down on Brooklyn, flooding homes, highways and and streets.

There was major flooding on the Belt Parkway near Cropsey Avenue, and the highway ultimately shut down for short period because of it. Eventually one lane in each direction reopened. Also near Cropsey Avenue, there were reports on the police scanner that cars were submerged on Shore Parkway, and even drifting in the current.

We heard about flooding from Plumb Beach all the way to Dyker Heights. Now that it’s over, we’re still waiting to hear about conditions in certain parts of the neighborhood, like the Plumb Beach bungalow courts and areas around Cropsey Avenue. If you know how it is, please fill us in in the comments!

Readers have kept us updated so far, sending in the following photos.

This one’s from the entrance to the Belt Parkway at Bay Parkway, going west:

Photo by Regina Sorkin.

Things aren’t much better on the Belt Parkway, even now that the rain has stopped. Reader Rachel Tarantul sent us a photo taken just a few minutes after 10:00 a.m. that shows water sitting in two lanes of the highway, and only one lane is open in each direction. She says traffic is terrible.

And this was by the Cropsey bus depot:

Photo by Regina Sorkin.

Along the border of Coney Island and Brighton Beach, this is from the parking lot of 601 Surf Avenue:

Photo by Regina Sorkin.

We’re also hearing about homes and building basements flooding. A reader tweeted to us that a Sheepshead Bay apartment building on Homecrest Avenue near Avenue Z had several inches of water. Our own Elle Spektor is dealing with a flooded basement in her Bensonhurst home. Here’s what it looked like in the streets near her:

And here’s one of a flooded Sheepshead Bay garage, on Avenue W and East 26th Street, from reader Danil Rudoy:

Nearby, on Avenue V between Brigham Street and Brown Street, reader nolastname snapped this. There’s about two inches of water filling up the alleyway.

In Manhattan Beach – an area that has certainly seen more than enough water lately – Albert Hasson sent us this photo of a car trying to get through what appears to be at least a foot of water on Ocean Avenue:

Hopefully now that the rain stopped – and almost exactly at 9:15 a.m., as the National Weather Service predicted – the water is receding and things getting back to normal. Make sure to let us know if there’s any lasting damage or floodwater in your area, and send photos and other information to nberke [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com.

Updated (10:49 a.m.) to add the photo from nolastname.

Source: NYC Dept Parks and Recreation NYC Dept Parks and Recreation

This summer, it looks like beach goers will be able to flush with impunity after all. Last week we reported that plans to install the $2 million state-of-the-art bathroom facilities along the shores of Brighton Beach had been delayed for unexplained reasons. According to a Parks Department press release, it looks like the bathrooms will indeed be put in place by Memorial Day, in spite of protests from local residents.

The protesters, who mainly consist of residents of the Oceana luxury condominiums (50 Oceana Drive West) were outraged at the installation of the bathrooms, which they consider to be unsightly. Residents were also concerned that the new bathrooms would attract an unwanted homeless presence and rowdy teenagers, making it unsafe for their children.

The delivery of the new bathrooms, as well as new lifeguard stations will take place starting tonight. Deliveries will be made each night this week, through the May 10. Deliveries will take place because the pieces being sent over are huge and the streets need to be relatively empty for the Parks Department to orchestrate the delivery.

The Parks Department wants residents to know that during the delivery and installation of the new facilities, they can expect to hear diesel truck engines, crane activity and beeping trucks. Safety horns may also be blown in case of emergency situations.

Once the delivery stage is finished, work on the facilities will continue until May 24, but this phase is expected to be much quieter than the pile-driving operations that plagued Brighton residents last month.

Parking will also be restricted during the delivery stage this week. Here is a list of the parking regulations set to be enforced this week.

To facilitate transport of the oversized structures, parking will be restricted at the following locations:

• Brigham Street South of Emmons Avenue from midnight Monday, May 6, to 6 a.m. Friday, May 10.
• Brighton 15th Street south of Brighton Beach Avenue from 10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7, to 6 a.m. Wednesday, May 8, 10 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, to 6 a.m. Thursday, May 9, and from 10 p.m. Thursday, May 9 to 6 a.m. Friday, May 10.

Parking will be restricted on one additional night to accommodate deliveries to New Brighton. We will inform the community once the schedule for New Brighton has been finalized.

Please note that we will also suspend alternate-side parking rules in the affected area, from Monday, May 6 to Friday, May 10, to help ease any parking difficulties that may result from the deliveries.

The construction of the bathrooms were approved by the public and financed by FEMA after Superstorm Sandy destroyed the bathroom facilities previously in place on the beach. City officials say that moving the bathrooms now would cost an additional $2 million that they are not willing to spend.

Source: NYC Dept Parks and Recreation NYC Dept Parks and Recreation

The planned $2 million futuristic steel bathroom stations set for the beaches of Southern Brooklyn have been delayed. The New York Daily News is reporting that the new bathrooms, which faced a torrent of criticism from residents of the Oceana condominiums (50 Oceana Drive West) will be put on hold until further notice.

When asked about exactly when the new bathrooms will be arriving, Arthur Pincus, a spokesman for the Parks Department, told the Daily News that, “I do not have a tentative new date.”

This begs the question as to why the bathrooms, which feature modern amenities and were designed to handle extreme weather, are being delayed. Did the Parks Department bend to the will of the angry protests from Oceana residents who didn’t want their luxury ocean views spoiled by the 12 foot high facilities? Right now, no one knows for sure because the Parks Department refused to elaborate on the delay.

Lil Phat. Source: Facebook

Russian-born gangster and famous turncoat Mani Chulpayev was arrested yesterday on suspicion of ordering the murder of American rapper Lil Phat, according to a report by Ria Novosti.

Melvin Vernell III, aka Lil Phat, was a 19-year-old southern rapper with a promising career. He was gunned down in a parking lot of a hospital while waiting for his child to be born in what authorities described as a planned attack.

“The alleged motive for the murder was drugs and other ‘business’ dealings in which the suspects were involved,” the office of Atlanta’s district attorney, Paul Howard, said in a statement provided to RIA Novosti.

Chulpayev, who came to Brighton Beach from the Soviet Union in the 1980s, got his start in Russian gangs known as “brigades.” After being arrested in 1998, he cooperated with federal officials and helped bring down a slew of Russian mobsters.

He testified to being “the money handler and the scheme organizer” for a crime group that US authorities called the “Gufield-Kutsenko Brigade,” The New York Times reported in 2002.

“I came up with the scams,” Chulpayev testified, the Times reported.

Chulpayev’s decision to turn state’s evidence, which led to dozens of convictions of members of Eurasian crime groups in the United States, so impressed authorities that he was granted time served for his admitted crimes in 2002.

In handing down the sentence, US federal judge Nina Gershon called Chulpayev’s crimes “chilling and inhuman” but said he proved to be “one of the most valuable witnesses in the history of the government’s battle against Russian organized crime,” the New York Daily News reported at the time.