Community Board 13 is demanding the Department of Education begin taking toxic chemicals in schools more seriously.
Responding to recent reports that some Brooklyn schools contain the toxic Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), the board wants the city to host public hearings on the issue and improve communication with parents and educators about the substances.
PCBs were recently found in area schools including Sheepshead Bay’s P.S. 52 (2675 East 29th Street) and P.S. 288 in Coney Island. The chemical was used in construction materials, especially around windows and door frames, before being banned in the 1970s. It has the potential to cause cancer, as well as a variety of other adverse health effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, and endocrine system.
“It is in the best interest of everyone if the Department of Education takes a proactive approach to keeping everyone informed and addressing the concerns of students, parents, teachers and members of the general public,” boardmember Brian Gotlieb wrote in a letter to schools Chancellor Joel Klein. Gotlieb is the chairperson of the board’s Education, Library and Youth Services Committee.
[via Yournabe.com]
Sorry Local Broker. Sorry BrooklynQ. Sorry Arthur. I cheated on all of you.
Without a peep to any of you, I slunk off to Totonno’s Pizzeria Napolitano (1524 Neptune Avenue) Friday afternoon – Totonno’s first day open since their fire last March. I went with my brother. Neither of us had been there before.
It. Was. Delish.
Continue Reading »
We got a photo of this lovely painting recently purchased by a Sheepshead Bites reader (who can reveal himself if he wishes, but I figured it best not to identify people with valuable art in their homes). This is an Alan Streets original streetscape of Coney Island.
Streets is a rising star in the contemporary art scene and has been compared to Picasso, van Gough, and Basquiat. A native of London, Streets is paranoid schizophrenic and uses his art as a form or therapy. His influences include New York graffiti, Hieronymus Bosch, and Salvador Dali.
You can find out more about Streets by visiting his website or watching the documentary My Name is Alan and I Paint Pictures, which follows Streets for six years in London and New York City.
After many a fakeout, Totonno’s is finally reopening on February 10th, according to Slice pizza blog. Totonno’s, which many pizza aficionados agree is one of the best slices in New York (and thus, the world) closed down after a fire devastated the storefront back in March. In September, Slice reported that the famed Coney Island pizzeria would begin welcoming customers again in late-September or early-October. Then it became November. Then December. You can guess where we’re going with this.
Slice wrote the following quick post on their site yesterday:
Our man Ed Levine just got off the phone with Totonno’s owner Lawrence Ciminieri, who tells us that Totonno’s is reopening next Wednesday, February 10 at noon.
Ciminieri says he himself will be making the pies that day.
We’re confident that this is the real deal this time. Ciminieri says he’s got all the permits now and the pizzeria is ready to go.
We hope it’s for real this time. I had planned to go for my first visit right before it burned down, and all this waiting has got me seriously hungry!
A Tern photographed near the nature center by PhotoJeff via Flickr
…and you should answer! The Parks Department is having two local events this Saturday that you should consider attending with your family.
If you’re into bird watching then head over to the Salt Marsh Nature Center (Avenue U and East 33rd Street, directly across from Marine Park) at 8 a.m. The Park Rangers will be holding a “Birding Event“. Don’t ask me what that means but you’ll learn everything you need to know about birds!
After you’re done learning all about the birds (I wonder if they’ll teach you anything about bees too?), head over to the Coney Island Boardwalk (West 10th Street entrance) for a Marine Mammal Watch. You’ll be looking for seals, whales, and dolphins. Don’t expect any people in the water unless the Polar Bears are out and about!
Both events are courtesy of the City Parks Deparment and provide a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning. If you need any more information then call (718) 421-2021.
If you’re still looking for more to do, the Salt Marsh Nature Center will also hold a Book Blitz on Sunday at 3 p.m. and a Nature Lecture with Dr Judith Weiss on Monday @ 7 p.m.
Carlo Fodera, a.k.a. Coney Island Carlo, is taking tattooing global in a new reality television show, Tattoo Masters Worldwide.
“Over the last couple of years I’ve been watching these reality shows on tattooing,” Fodera said in a trailer for the series. “There’s so much more to the tattoo world. There’s so many different venues, and so many different types of tattooing.”
From a new Gravesend location at 66 Avenue U, Fodera is launching a competition to showcase the explosive dynamism of contemporary tattooing. The new storefront is next door to one of his existing parlors, Studio Enigma. Fodera owns 10 shops in the five boroughs, and according to the website is responsible for about half the tattooing done daily in New York City. Continue Reading »
Cover detail courtesy of DCComics.com
Coney Island collides with the world of comic books in Kevin Baker’s Luna Park from Vertigo/DC Comics. The story follows Alik Strelnikov, a Russian mafia “enforcer” and explores parts of the community’s criminal underworld, while also delving into the immigrant experience. The plot periodically flashes back to Alik’s ancestors in Russia and examine how their choices shaped his existence, while Alik navigates his complicated life in the modern day Coney Island with his fortune-telling/prostitute girlfriend Marina. To complicate matters, Alik is having a hard time coming to terms with his military past. Together, Alik and Marina embark on the American Dream, trying to improve their lot in life and escape their situation in Coney Island. In a WSJ Blog the comics’ author Kevin Baker compares Alik to “Jake Gittes in Chinatown or Roy Hobbs in The Natural or even Jay Gatsby.” But to the digital generation [i.e. me], he sounds a lot more like Grand Theft Auto IV’s Niko Bellic or even Nicolas Cage’s Yury Orlov from Lord of War. Either way, this should be a colorful depiction of the historic neighborhood, and certainly not another Brighton Beach Memoirs.
With the city trying to breathe new life into Coney Island, they’re also looking to revive a dead idea: ferry service.
Following last week’s announcement that the city purchased 6.9 acres of amusement district real estate from Thor Equities developer Joe Sitt for $95.6 million, they have started a consultant search to reevaluate Coney Island’s potential for ferry service to Manhattan and northern Brooklyn. If the site is deemed worthy, it stands to receive $3.2 million in federal transportation funding. Continue Reading »
Courtesy of vampirebird via Flickr
We noted yesterday that, as part of the city’s rehabilitation plans, the Coney Island boardwalk will be rebuilt… soon. Well, we didn’t realize how soon. Giddy to play with its new toy, New York City Parks and Recreation Department quickly awarded the $13.7 million, two-year construction contract to T.B. Penick & Sons, Inc., through its affiliate Triton Structural Concrete.
According to the San Diego, CA,-based company’s press release:
Work will begin immediately to demolish portions of the existing damaged wooden boardwalk; precast concrete slab units will be installed as the foundation of the 2.7-mile boardwalk to strengthen and stabilize it. The boardwalk’s existing hardwood timbers will be replaced by a combination of colored and textured pre-cast concrete slabs, custom exposed aggregate and sustainably harvested hardwood wood decking. The project duration is two years, however, Triton anticipates completing early in approximately fall 2010, dependent upon the weather and summer tourism.
First, we have to wonder whether this $13.7 million project could’ve waited until after we got ourselves out of the current financial boondoggle. Next, we ask why would you go with a company based outside of New York? Granted, sending taxpayer money off to California is a bit like charity these days, but we can put that to good use here at home.
On Friday, NYC Economic Development Corporation sent out its request for proposals (RFP) for amusement operators on the shiny new land it just bought. Worked into the guidelines is a requirement that all applicants must have attractions in place for the Summer 2010 season on a lot that accounts for roughly half the city-owned land. This guarantees something to see next year, and hopefully it’s better than the dreaded Sitt Sideshow. Continue Reading »
