Source: davidsonscott15/Flickr
We still haven’t heard back from the police regarding yesterday’s armed robbery in Manhattan Beach, but the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association said they have.
According to the group, an arrest was made in the afternoon and the perp was hit with charges relating to two robberies in the community. The incidents – yesterday’s, and one the day before – allegedly involved the same perp using a silver revolver.
Both incidents occurred on Corbin Place, according to MBNA spokesperson Edmond Dweck
We will update this post if we receive any further information from the 61st Precinct.
Careful driving out there. The rain and winds are apparently taking their toll on our already sick trees. The one above toppled over at Corbin Place and Brighton 12th Street.
Yikes. I wasn’t prepared for the slew of e-mails, texts and phone calls I received “congratulating” me for getting quoted in the Daily News this weekend. If you haven’t seen it yet, they did a story about the Corbin Place house I blasted last week for being out-of-character. And I’m not so happy with the story.
It’s not a critique about the reporter. It’s just that I didn’t think the story merited citywide attention (though the issue does), and thought her efforts would be better spent elsewhere. I also didn’t realize we were speaking for quotation – I thought the reporter wanted background – but that’s more my fault than hers.
Honestly, though, my problem with the story is that I felt for the family whose home it is. I spent most of my conversation with the reporter trying to convince her that it wasn’t worth it to put this family in the spotlight. Apparently I failed.
Yes, it’s an ugly house and scars the block, in my opinion. But I highlighted it to spark discussion about the larger issue (the absence of aesthetic considerations in zoning laws), not to shame the family. And yes, I threw a barb their way for humor’s sake, but I do wish them the best of luck.
So, this is my open thread today – sharing my regret that the story brought so much attention to a family just trying to enjoy their home. So, if they’re reading this, I apologize. I do hope we, as a community, can have this conversation. But the vitriol and the spotlight shouldn’t be pointed at you.
Almost every house on the three-block stretch of Corbin Place looks like the houses next to this garish monster. Then there’s this.
When we first brought you photos of the construction at 153 Corbin Place, we told you to blame the city for its weak zoning laws (which this house may be in violation of, as it protrudes further out than neighbors’ on both sides) that don’t go far enough in identifying common architectural elements to preserve. Owners, we felt, should be expected to do what they want with the property, and it’s the city’s responsibility to institute limits and create community standards.
But putting the blame on the city’s shoulder didn’t stop the owner from getting pissed. She called us up and freaked out. “Wait ’til you see it when it’s finished,” she said. “You can’t tell anything now; it’ll be a beautiful home.”
Nope. Still fugly. And now I blame you, too.
Click to see a larger version
Corbin Place is one of those rare streets in our neighborhood where all the homes look eerily similar, built around the same era, and have a lot of identical features. They all have garages, driveways, porches – even a bit of landscaping in most cases. Walking down the block, you might get the idea that someone actually planned something in this city.
But then 156 Corbin Place has to go and screw it up.
“This is something sticking out like a tumor or something,” a neighbor told us about the construction.
Look at this monstrosity! This is one of those fantastic examples of how New York City zoning laws fail – epically – at taking into account how neighborhoods are actually developed. This construction site may be a giant middle finger extended to neighbors, but as far as we can tell, it’s totally legal.
Zoned for R6, the owners are building out to the maximum height allowable, even though nearly all the homes on the block are one story less. And say goodbye to the sweet front-porches – as you can see in the photo, they’re extending the front of the house forward to make maximum use of the land.
Keep reading, and find out how the city allows this to happen
When I passed by Corbin Place last week, I found a major project underway with the entire center of the street torn up. From Brighton Beach Avenue to Brighton 15th Street, a 10-foot-deep-or-so gash snakes through the asphalt. At its bottom are pipes.
But on that Thursday afternoon, not a single worker was in sight. Nor a van or truck with identification claiming jurisdiction over the project. I called Community Board 15 to try and learn more. But though the board is routinely notified when utility projects kick-off in the area, Corbin Place is the dividing line between us and Community Board 13. The board wasn’t notified, and they could only guess that it might be a sewage project.
Days later, I ran into a National Grid employee on another work site. I asked him if he knew. He looked confused, shrugged, then said, “Yeah, I think it’s gas. There’s a big gas thing going on around Corbin.” He didn’t sound so sure either. More like he just wanted me to go away (and who can blame him?).
So… has anyone seen a labeled van or a work crew at this site?
A street sign honoring Iraq War veterans appears to have been stolen from a Brighton Beach corner, leading residents to point the finger at anti-war activists.
The sign renamed the corner of Corbin Place and Oriental Boulevard as Heroes of Operation Iraqi Freedom Way in 2005. According to the Daily News, residents took it as a “symbol of the contributions to the war effort made by local immigrants from Russia and former Soviet countries.”
The sign vanished in December, and Raisa Chernina, founder of Be Proud Foundation, which lobbied for its installation, claimed unpatriotic critics of the Iraq War stole the sign because it appeared to support President Bush.
“I have no doubt about it, because so many people were against the war,” Chernina told Daily News. “But they mix people fighting the war with the war itself.”
Supporters are rallying at the corner today to demand the sign’s replacement. The Department of Transportation has already said they will install a sign soon.
