Just as we came upon the sixth month anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, a unique arts organization has covered Gerritsen Beach with dozens of stars to bring hope and inspiration to the children of the disaster stricken neighborhood.
See a gallery of all the stars, photographed by local photographer Lisanne Anderson.
Photo By Erica Sherman
People have been waiting a long time to see the the $60 billion promised by Congress last January. The first round of money dispersal is finally coming in the form of a $1.77 billion Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery fund (CDBG-DR) and the city wants the public’s opinion on the best way to dole it out, according to a city press release.
A report by YNN asked Staten Islanders stricken with Sandy woes for their opinions and most agreed that the first people that should be helped are the ones who got hit the worst.
“I want to see that aid get actually to the families that need it,” Tom Seery, whose home was damaged, told YNN.
[Rudy Mienert's] home is only about four feet above sea level, well below the new Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines, which require homes in the newly expanded flood zone to be built to 13 feet.
That means Mienert will be forced to pay steep premiums for flood insurance. So, he said that the money should go to help people like him, who can’t afford to raise their homes or pay more for insurance.
“Who’s going to fund it?” Mienert said. “Basically, all these houses, you can’t afford that, that kind of insurance or that kind of structure, revamping. You have to raise your house.”
Charges of discrimination were hurled by organizers attempting to plan a Russian festival in Staten Island earlier this month. The event, which has since been canceled, was met with stiff opposition from locals, who according to DNAinfo, did not want to see the event happen.
Anna Pekerman, CEO of Russian radio station Danu Radio, based here in Sheepshead Bay, was hoping to run the event on September 9 in the Midland Beach parking lot, but withdrew her request in the face of what she called discrimination. Pressure against the event stems from a similar 2007 Russian-based festival that upset neighbors due to unruly crowd behavior brought on by illegal drinking.
Pekerman, who had nothing to do with the 2007 event, isn’t buying it.
“They said that there were problems there, they had a lot of complaints based [on] that event. I’m very upset that they’re lumping all Russian people together,” she said.
According to the Parks Department, who is in charge of approving large public events, they had worked closely with Pekerman, outlining the rules and regulations, but “the event organizer did not want to comply with these rules and decided to cancel the event. Parks did not deny any permits,” said Parks Department spokeswoman Tara Kiernen.
Pekerman wasn’t convinced that the issue was a bureaucratic one, but rather pressure from the local community to resist another Russian-themed celebration. In recent years, Staten Islanders also voted down a planned Russian Community Center to be built on an empty lot.
The Staten Island Advance quoted local resident Joanne Bennetii at a 2009 civic meeting to discuss the proposed construction, “This is just going to be another damn Russian thing.”
Even with the requisite funding in place, and support from the local politicians, the project couldn’t overcome the community’s opposition.
We noted recently that new Congressional district lines means we’ll be seeing a lot of new faces in our neck of the woods. With the 13th District, currently occupied by Republican Michael Grimm, morphing into the 11th District, it bulks out further into Brooklyn to include parts of Sheepshead Bay and Gravesend.
Enter one of the new faces you’ll see more often as the election nears: Democrat Mark Murphy, who is challenging Grimm.
Murphy came before the Southern Brooklyn Democrats at their Monday night meeting this week, seeking support from the progressive group for his campaign. Murphy did a short Q&A, telling attendees that he hopes to “protect the next generation” and “those who do not have a voice,” as well as Medicare and Medicaid for the generation that came before. He slammed his opponent, Michael Grimm, for having slashed Medicare and Medicaid while offering tax cuts to overseas companies and oil companies.
Murphy also criticized Grimm for his failure to fight for jobs in New York City when federal guidelines force the city to turn to out-of-state contractors for public projects.
What caught our ear was a response Murphy gave to a question about the natural gas pipeline that may soon be installed beneath Jamaica Bay, Gateway National Recreation Area and Floyd Bennett Field. The bill permitting construction of such a pipeline was sponsored by Grimm. Murphy said he supported the expansion of natural gas service, but that if it’s to benefit a private company, the funding for it should come from private sources. However, a number of details in his answer revealed he was not familiar with some of the elements of the plan – such as the fact that no pipeline already exists within the park – or the safety and environmental concerns from neighbors.
Sheepshead Bites followed up with Murphy to ask him to clarify his stance, based on details we provided from our earlier coverage. Here is his updated statement:
We face a constant challenge in balancing our energy needs against protecting our natural resources, and this project is no exception. While this project, linking Brooklyn and Staten Island to an existing offshore pipeline, has the potential to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and polluting high-sulfur heating oil it still brings clear risk to the environment. Therefore, I believe that any gas pipeline must first and foremost be built and managed under strict oversight and adhering the most rigorous environmental standards, and that any company with a poor safety record or past safety law violations should be banned from involvement in this project. No taxpayer funds should be used in its construction, and impingement on the seafloor must be minimized. While we still need a longer-term energy policy that reduces our dependence on fossil fuels in general, in the immediate future our responsibility is to ensure that we continue to phase out more polluting energy sources like high-sulfur home heating oil and decrease New York’s overall carbon footprint.
Southern Brooklyn Democrats voted to endorse Murphy at the end of the meeting.
Brady, with Assemblywoman Weinstein, at Good Shepherd Sports Annual Little League's opening day celebration in 2011. (Source: assembly.state.ny.us)
A grand jury decided not to indict the beloved monsignor of Marine Park’s Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church on sex abuse charges.
Thomas Brady, a longtime priest at Good Shepherd (1950 Batchelder Street) was arrested in October 2011, following allegations that he attempted “inappropriate sexual contact” and lewd comments with teenage boys.
According to the Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan’s office, the evidence didn’t pass muster with the Grand Jury. They sent the following statement to Sheepshead Bites earlier this week:
After conducting a thorough investigation into these allegations, our office presented evidence to a Brooklyn Grand Jury, and the Grand Jury voted not to indict this defendant.
The grand jury proceedings took place on April 26.
Brooklyn Daily is reporting that Brady’s case is still under review by the Diocese.
Diocese spokeswoman Stefanie Gutierrez confirmed that Brady is still on a forced administrative leave away from his Marine Park parish and the allegations were being reviewed by a cannon lawyer, who will determine if Brady violated any church rules.
… Investigators said that one of the victims — a 13-year-old student at Good Shepherd Parochial School — was in the church rectory with Brady when the senior made several lewd comments. At one point, Brady “offered to have sex” with the minor, cops claimed.
Investigators did not say that Brady had touched the child. Neither did the Diocese, which accused Brady, an FDNY chaplain with close ties to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, of having inappropriate contact with the 13-year-old, as well as a second teen. Diocese officials learned about the second attack while investigating the first.
Brady, 77, has had several strokes and is currently suffering from lung cancer, leading many in the community to come to his defense, insisting it was all a misunderstanding and honoring him with a Christmas tree lighting in his name.
Source: DEP
I confess, come Saturday I shall be refreshing the North Shore edition of SI Live, waiting in curious anticipation to see how the impending weekend rain barrel distribution at the College of Staten Island works out for residents of “The Forgotten Borough” (although, for those of us enduring a third consecutive Bloomberg Administration, that could easily refer to all of the boroughs except for Manhattan).
Read why this matters, and weigh in on whether Southern Brooklynites are getting screwed.
The MTA Board is expected to pass a slew of proposed bridge and tunnel toll hikes around the city today, including a new $13.00 charge to cash-paying commuters crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
For E-ZPass users the Verrazano will raise to $9.60 from $9.14.
The original plan was to raise all tolls on bridges and tunnels 10 percent across the board. But the Staten Island Borough Jackass President proposed that the raises only affect cash customers, slapping them with a 27 to 33 percent increase. That structure would have saved Staten Islanders quite a bit of cash, as the borough has the highest rate of E-ZPass users, representing yet another attempt by Staten Island to shift its financial responsibilities onto the other boroughs.
Regardless, a modified plan won out that increased E-ZPass tolls by some (5 percent), and the cash tolls by more (18 percent).
Locally, the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge will rise to $3 from $2.50 for cash payments, and $1.80 from $1.42 for E-ZPass payments.
If passed, the increases will go into effect on December 30.
Staten Island Ferry - stealing our money with every rider // Source: Daniel Schwen via Wikimedia Commons
Yeah, I said it: screw Staten Island. I never liked it, and I wish we could just gift it to New Jersey. And when we gift it, we better get a tax break for all the wonderful things bestowed upon it for being a member of the City of New York.
Among all those wonderful things, there’s one that really irks me: the ferry. The free ferry.
Let’s back up a second. I was talking to BrooklynQ last week, discussing the MTA fare hikes and joking about seeing it go back down once the economy kicks in again. You know we were joking, because we’re all aware that once the city starts charging for something, prices only ever go up – never down.
That is a rule; one we all know too well. But every rule has its exception, and ’round here that exception is the Staten Island ferry. I’ll say it again: the free Staten Island ferry, operated by the Department of Transportation.
Neighborhood-level ethnic tensions are a funny thing. They’re usually stressful, frustrating and embarrassing – even to observers. But in America, they’re also incredibly dependable.
So predictable are they that I can write a template article to be used for the clash between established residents and immigrant newcomers in any neighborhood during any point in history. It would go something like this:
