“Bullet Points” is our new format for Community Board 15 meeting coverage, providing takeaways we think are important. Information in Bullet Points is meant only to be a quick summary, and some issues may be more deeply explored in future articles.
Boardmembers push to beautify Manhattan Beach, oppose aesthetic improvements at Knapp Street sewage plant: Parks Department’s Brooklyn Chief of Staff Martin Maher came before the Board last night to provide the community with updates on ongoing projects in the district – including at Bill Brown Park, Galapo Playground, Brigham Street Park and Emmons Avenue – but the presentation quickly turned to Manhattan Beach as members barraged Maher with questions and complaints (video above).
Above is a photo that I missed when I put together yesterday’s piece, Kings Bay Rising, which is a shame because it is, in my opinion, the most striking of all the photographs. It’s taken on the corner of Coyle Street, looking east down Voorhies Avenue… before there really was a street or avenue to look down. This area was criss-crossed by dirt roads before the completion of Kings Bay Little League and the nearby housing developments, a jarring fact given today’s congested roadways.
Below are two photos we received this morning from Andy Baum, who wanted to add to our Kings Bay collection.
Outfield shot of Kings Bay Little League field from the opening day, April 1968.
Opening Day Parade, 1968, looking north on Nostrand Avenue as the lead car turns east onto Avenue Z.
Longtime reader Bruce Brodoff sent me these photos way back in January 2010. We had a couple of e-mail exchanges about them, and what follows is a photo essay and narrative pieced together from those e-mails describing the Kings Bay-area of Sheepshead Bay being developed. They show Kings Bay Little League’s fields being constructed, along with the Seacrest Apartments, and illustrate how parts of the neighborhood were – in relatively recent memory – still rural. His writings memorialize a bygone era; a quiet, uncongested corner of Brooklyn yet to be developed. Brodoff shares his memories of growing up in the type of neighborhood that New York City will likely never know again.
When we heard that the Kings Bay Youth Organization’s fence was repaired just days after a car slammed through it last week, we said to ourselves, “Well, that’s a triumph of efficiency.” Even though it turns out it’s more of a makeshift repair with wire mesh holding everything together, we figured it must be miles ahead of where the Parks Department would be with the marina’s railing after a car took a dive four days before the Coyle Street/Kings Bay field incident. Afterall, a set of concrete planters has baffled the department for a couple of years now. Well, we were wrong. When we went to go snag a comparison shot of the fence as it sits now, well, lo’ and behold, it was repaired!
We actually walked past the spot two or three times trying to remember where the damage occurred, since it blended in so seamlessly that we couldn’t spot it offhand. The concrete looked fresh, but no one in the area could tell us when the department came to do repairs, and many were surprised when we pointed out it was fixed. We can’t tell for sure, but it looks like they recycled at least one of the fences damaged in the accident and put it back into position. The wood board is to hold the concrete while it sets, since the gate ripped a chunk off when the car plowed into it. Good job, Parks Department. We’ll try to be a little less cynical next time.
