SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

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A Coney Island church that played a major role Sandy relief efforts is now in need of help, according to a story in The New York World.

According to the article, the largest church in Coney Island, the Coney Island Gospel Assembly at 2828 Neptune Avenue, opened its doors following Sandy to be filled with supplies such as canned foods and bottled water and had medical staff working inside. Later, the Red Cross set up just outside the church.

Even before Sandy, the church had deep roots serving the community’s neediest.

Over the years the church had hosted a variety of social services within its walls, including a homeless shelter, summer activities for children, a truancy reduction program and a food distribution service run by Operation Blessing, the Rev. Pat Robertson’s nonprofit. She has counseled families through addictions, illnesses and interventions, and more gang-related deaths than she can count.

The church may have been a lifesaver to those affected by the storm, but it too could use a helping hand. The basement of the church had flooded, causing $1.5 million in damages.

According to the article, the church has received some of the generosity that it has been giving out. In November, it received $125,000 from a non-profit organization called Mercury One and in December it received $75,000 from the Robin Hood Foundation.

These donations have made a difference but the church is still struggling.

The church is currently surviving on weekly offerings at Sunday service. It can’t apply for a loan because there is no way to pay back the money. FEMA can’t help because a house of worship is not eligible for aid, although the House of Representatives has passed a bill that may change this.

Newly sworn-in Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, representing a broad swath of Brooklyn’s southern coastline walloped by Superstorm Sandy, is hosting a Post Sandy Town Hall Meeting, according to a last-minute press release his office sent out.

The release states:

Too many New Yorkers are still struggling to recover and get back to normal after Superstorm Sandy. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) will be hosting his first town hall meeting and will be joined by local elected officials and representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the American Red Cross, the Rapid Repairs Program, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and other government agencies to address concerns and provide up-to-date information on Post-Sandy relief.

Jeffries will be joined by State Senator Diane Savino, Assemblyman Alex Brook-Krasny, Councilman Domenic Recchia and representatives from FEMA, the American Red Cross, Rapid Repairs Program, SBA, NYS Department of Financial Services (DFS) and other government agencies.

The event will be at 7 p.m. at Coney Island Gospel Assembly, 2828 Neptune Avenue (between West 28th Street and West 29th Street).

Watch the video above to see Jeffries urging his colleagues in the House to pass Sandy relief legislation.

Source: Friends of Ocean Parkway

If you’re a bicyclist or pedestrian who makes Ocean Parkway a part of your routine, you’ve probably noticed how nice the pavement is above Avenue O. And you’ve probably noticed how cruddy it is south of that spot. That’s because the Parks Department, which oversees the Ocean Parkway malls, rehabilitated the malls with fresh pavement, benches and plantings several years ago, but halted construction when funding dried up in 2010.

But that work is scheduled to resume in 2014, according to Councilman David Greenfield’s office.

We first got word of the expected renovations from Friends of Ocean Parkway. According to the group’s website, both the east and west malls are slated for repairs from Avenue O down to Avenue Y. They say the area is “extremely hazardous for pedestrians and bicyclists and require immediate attention.”

Greenfield’s office confirmed the information for Sheepshead Bites, and sent us information from the Parks Department saying that the project is currently in the design phase, which will wrap up by December. It will be put to bid in the spring, and construction is expected to begin in spring 2014.

We asked the councilman’s office if they were aware of the 130-year-old historic milestone that sits near Avenue P on the western mall. It’s the last of 11 markers that once guided tourists and early commuters, starting at the circle at the southwest corner of Prospect Park and ending just before the ocean at Brighton Beach. The second to last stone is believed to have been ripped out by Department of Transportation or CEMUSA contractors when they built a new bus stop at Neptune Avenue, and preservationists fear that the same may happen during Ocean Parkway rehabilitation.

The councilman’s office said they’re looking into the issue and will report back.

A reader sent us video of the aftermath of what he said was a high-speed car chase on Neptune Avenue, which ended with the suspect’s vehicle flipping over near East 11th Street at approximately 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Here’s what he wrote:

this guy was fleeing from the cops. There was a  high speed chase, and his truck flipped. This was on Neptune Ave just off of Coney Island Ave.  Amazingly, he got out of the car through the door and started saying that the mob was following him. Then he asked the police to promise him that he would be allowed to go back to his hotel.  As he was being carried away restrained in a stretcher, he was yelling “Your breaking the law” to the police officers.

The NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information’s office could not provide us with any details about the incident.

The family of reader Saul Braksmajer in front of his grandfather’s grocery at 144 Neptune Avenue. Photo courtesy of Saul Braksmajer

After we posted a photo for the Morning Mug by reader Saul Braksmajer, he was kind enough to send us in a couple more images, with some local historical significance. Saul’s grandfather ran the grocery store, pictured above, at 144 Neptune Avenue, between Gray Court and East 11thStreet.

Saul tells us:

“The first picture is my grandparents, my dad, and my uncle in front of the store my grandfather ran in 1962. The second picture (Ed. — below) is the same spot, 50 years later (note the giant tree that grew in that time!).”

144 Neptune Avenue today. Photo courtesy of Saul Braksmajer

What I love about the top photo is that you can see that they have advertisements for Green Stamps in the window, as well as products such as White Rose Tea; Schaefer, Schlitz and Rheingold beers, and — something I’ve never heard of — dual filter cigarettes. They also sold giant Lipton mushrooms, which, as I previously mentioned, I’m not much of a fan of.

Does anyone recall shopping at this grocery store? Share your memories in the comments!

If you spot Rafi’s underwear, you win the dollar.

America has been teetering on the brink of destruction for some time. Between the gloominess of poverty, war, global warming, and financial ruin, we silly citizens have totally forgotten about civility, humility and kindness. America is one shove on a subway train away from completely exploding to smithereens.

Luckily, the folks at Laundry King at 39 Neptune Avenue are tipping the scales, just a little bit, back in our favor with some basic human decency.

Our friend Rafi G. sent us the following note yesterday:

I picked up my laundry last night from Laundry King on Emmons and Neptune, the 24hr place. So after they wash and fold your clothes for you…they wrap it in plastic and then your laundry bag. So I got home opened my laundry bag and found a $1 sitting on top of my clothes in the plastic. I probably left in a pair of pants or something and they found it and returned the dollar.

Good on you, Laundry King. However, I, uh, left a $10 million bill in my pants last time I was there. Can you, uh, reimburse me? Please?

Last week we reported on how each day scores of drivers ignore the new No Left / No U-Turn sign on southbound Coney Island Avenue at Banner Avenue.

Well, the Department of Transportation quickly followed up, adding approximately half a dozen new signs all along the Coney Island Avenue overpass leading up to the intersection. They posted one on every lamppost, and even one dangling from the traffic light.

News 12, meanwhile, went to the intersection to re-report our story without credit check it out, filming video after the new signs had been installed. And, sure enough, they found drivers are still ignoring the signs.

Oh, and DOT did not add a sign on the median, as many of our readers suggested.

At the end of May, the Department of Transportation surprised local drivers by installing a No Left / No U-Turn sign on southbound Coney Island Avenue at Banner Avenue.

And, just about every day since then, hundreds of cars have been ignoring it.

The installation comes more than two years after local leaders fought a similar measure to bar left turns onto Guider Avenue for drivers heading south on Coney Island Avenue, a proposal that resulted from a seven-year study of accidents in the area. Even former Congressman Anthony Weiner got in on that fight, firing off a letter to DOT Commission Janette Sadik-Khan.

Opponents of that plan said diverting southbound Coney Island Avenue traffic to Neptune Avenue is a danger for all. Traffic is already congested on Neptune Avenue, they argued, and bus stops on the corner will make matters worse. Drivers looking for the Belt Parkway will be forced to go down East 12th Street – which has no light or signal – or next to Bay Academy on East 14th Street, putting students at higher risk.

While that proposal – which also recommended the creation of a left-turn lane onto Guider Avenue for northbound drivers – appears to have quietly hit the back-burner, DOT just as quietly installed the No Left / No U-Turn sign at the end of May. Community Board 15 told Sheepshead Bites at the time that they were not notified about the changes.

Apparently, drivers aren’t paying much mind to it, holding up traffic to make the turn up Banner Avenue, or a U-turn up the service road to Shore Parkway and the highway.

Photo and video by Robert Fernandez.

THE BITE: I’ve said it before, one of the greatest things about living in our neighborhood is the vast variety of foodstuffs available. With just about every continent represented, one can find himself eating his way around the world. But, to really experience it you need to be adventurous. And by adventurous, I don’t just mean be willing to try new foods, but you need to be willing to try new ways of eating.

Writing the bite, I need to be careful about how I report the foods I choose. What’s new and exciting to me may be old hat to you. I just hope I choose well and select items that reflect our neighborhood’s increasing diversity.

1001 Nights, 35 Neptune Avenue, bills itself as a ” Middle Eastern” restaurant, but offers food styles from across Asia. Diving deeper into their website, 1001 Nights drops all claims to be “Middle Eastern” and proclaims itself  ”one of the most sought after Uzbek restaurants in NYC.” I don’t really care which area wins, I simply enjoyed the food.

Parmuda samsa ($3.95), is one of the Uzbeki foods. Offered in the “traditional dishes” section of the menu, parmuda samsas are described as “a dish in honor of the twins, revered in the Orient – the conjoint pair of mini-patties with meat.” Intriguing, no? Who are these twins and why they revered? Hell, if they can cook, I’ll revere them too.

Keep reading; Robert says “boobs” a couple of times.

A photo from the November 8 Brighton Beach building collapse.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration slapped SP&K Construction with more than $77,000 in fines for skirting regulations in building a Brighton Beach structure, which collapsed in November killing one and injuring four others.

The agency served the Midwood-based company with 11 safety violations yesterday, saying the company knowingly failed to ensure the building was stable before sending workers in to pour concrete.

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