SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Over on this week’s open thread, Supafly10579 asked how to keep the bottle collectors out of her yard. This, of course, spurred a discussion that’s come up a few times before in the comments – i.e. readers think these people are a nuisance.

Someone linked to the video above, which shows one of these bottle collectors locked in a fierce argument with a customer service employee at Stop & Shop. She is being banned because she places labels from returnable bottles on nonreturnable bottles, bilking the store out of money.

Keep reading for our thoughts on bottle collectors, and weigh in on what you think the authorities should do.

We’ve been watching this location at 2424 Coney Island Avenue for months, and what was previously a rundown nightclub is now Grand Bazaar. Although everything seemed ready to go back in January, when the owner said they’d have a soft opening in February, it finally opened this week. Their small parking lot looks like it can fit about eight cars with room for two to load groceries if no truck is offloading. There is even a small sitting area outside, but its lack of shade isn’t so appealing in this weather.

Back when we first reported on Grand Bazaar, the owner told us there would be a grand opening about a month after its soft opening. And with a soft spot for celebrations with free food, we’re hoping that’s true. Stay tuned!

Sidewalks repaired, new tree mulch, garbage remains.

It was back in November when we first told you about the sidewalk repairs being done at Super Stop and Shop on Avenue Y and East 18th Street.

The work seemed to be progressing at a swift pace, but then it kept expanding all the way to the above ground parking entrance ramp. Just when it looked like repairs were finally done, there were at least four sand barrels with leftover caution tape taking up valuable parking space on East 18th Street.

The barrels had become unsightly spots for illegal dumping as you can see from the picture below. The barrels are now removed and the sidewalk construction appears to be done, with the area around the young trees filled in with black mulch cover and some more litter.

See sand barrel, see garbage.

Grand Bazaar, a new gourmet supermarket opening at 2424 Coney Island Avenue (off of Avenue U), has construction nearly all wrapped up and hopes to be stocked and ready to go by late-February. Owner Adam Dasdemir said the market will be open 24 hours, and a grand opening is being planned shortly after next month’s “soft opening” to allow for employee training.

Like other local gourmet markets, Grand Bazaar will offer a mixed selection of fruits, vegetables, packaged foods, prepared foods and baked goods. There will be a small seating area and parking for about 15 cars.

Before working on Grand Bazaar, which replaces a local diner that bit the dust at least three years ago, Dasdemir ran an upscale Turkish restaurant and club in uptown Manhattan. He also owns Adam’s hair salon on Kings Highway for more than 20 years.

(Photo courtesy of reader, nolastname)

Okay, so the boss over at the supermarket gave me a slip of paper with this address on it and told me to deliver these groceries. I rolled on over, rang the doorbell and – guess what? No one’s home. I guess that shopper never expected me to make it over here faster than she could. My wheels work extra smooth when I see ice cream in the cart.

Aaah, forget it. I can’t keep up this farce anymore. You people must have figured it out by now. I’m not working for the supermarket doing deliveries. It’s just a fantasy I like to live, because I like to think of myself as having some major purpose in life. The dreams of whooshing around the streets of Sheepshead Bay with pints of Haagen Dazs to protect just helps me cope.

In reality, I’m an imprisoned cart working for the building maintenance staff. Forget delivering groceries to the hungry. I just take orders from the porter and the super.

We’re all workers, here, at the Pomegranate Supermarket in Midwood (1507 Coney Island Avenue).

When the store first opened up to critical acclaim, the first customers lamented about the high prices, the lack of cheddar cheese, and no place to park their cars.

Less than a year later, at the Brooklyn Blogfest, outside.in reported that Pomegranate Market was one of the most searched terms in the local cybersphere. We’re really not sure why everyone was so interested in our workplace. Yeah, sure they have nice, smooth floors, but everything else is just like Super Stop and Shop over in Sheepshead Bay, except it’s all kosher.

When the parking lot was not ready for the many moneyed folks who just could not see themselves pushing one of those pedestrian carts with their groceries piled high, many stayed away due to the lack of street parking. Now, well-dressed Pomegranate customers arrive in their large, shiny cars, stop at the gate, with traffic all backed up, and hand over their keys to the valet. Yes, you heard me right. The valet!

So, this is what makes Pomegranate Supermarket a cut above the rest, not the food, the service, or the way the treat their shopping carts — it’s the valet parking lot!

The parking lot is too small to hold us humble, unengined 4-wheelers, so when the fancy customers unload their goods and get into their cars, they discard us shopping carts anywhere they so desire. Just the other day, I nearly had a heart attack when the most loyal  shopping cart friend I’ve ever known, “Good Gray”, was left out on the street and he got hit by a minivan.

We all stood vigil for “Good Gray”, hoping and praying that he would make it through. That night all of us vowed that whatever happens, we would hold them all responsible for our poor friend’s demise.

The next morning, when “Good Gray” opened his eyes and said his first words, “I’m telling you, I crossed over to the other side. I kept seeing the light of two silverly moons. That’s what kept me going.” We were so happy just to see him conscious, we didn’t have the heart to tell him that the light he saw was just his double vision of the lamppost. But, who are we to say, anyway? The poor cart crossed over to the other side and made his way back.

So, we just have one thing to say to you, Pomegranate Supermarket: the next time you see scratches on those cars in your valet parking lot, remember the story of “Good Gray”. Maybe, then, you’ll remember that the sidewalks are for people to walk on, not for risking the lives of shopping carts.

Alert: We’re taking a break from our regular Shopping Cart Series to bring you this important message: An APB has been issued for all missing shopping carts.

Sheepshead Bay resident, Stefanee Rivera,  sent us this photograph of a sign posted at the Avenue Y Super Stop and Shop store.

The sign is a simple request for shoppers to be on the alert for stray shopping carts belonging to the store.

Photographer, Lisanne Anderson, also posted her signature-style picture of a similar sign on Flickr, with a note implying that the store’s request for people to be on the lookout for stray carts might be possibly due to our Shopping Cart Series.

One store supervisor we spoke with told us that he doesn’t read our blog. So, this sign might have been generated by another member of management simply based on the number of missing shopping carts.

While, we are more than willing to offer up any information about missing, misled, lost, indentured, enslaved, kidnapped (and possibly drugged) shopping carts around our neighborhood — we’re sure not feeling responsible for making Super Stop and Shop feel responsible. It’s more than likely that there really is a problem with our streets being littered with carts that ought to be safe at home, instead.

(Photo by Stefanee Rivera)

This stray shopping cart was caught driving on the grass, as if it knows it’s in the wrong, thinking, “Hey, I’m gray. That car’s gray. Maybe, if I stay still, I’ll be camouflaged and they won’t notice me. Oh, no. That circular’s gonna be the death of me.” Then, in a final realization and breaking down in tears, “Do whatever want to me, just don’t take me back to Waldbaum’s…”

This Super Stop & Shop shopping cart was seen two blocks away from its home on Avenue Z and East 17 Street.

The cart has a wheel lock that keeps it from moving freely, so whoever abandoned it here must have had a difficult time getting it this far.

With the proliferation of supermarkets, stray shopping carts all over Sheepshead Bay will have some company while hanging out on the streets.

Correction: The shopping cart was seen on Avenue Y and East 19 Street, not on Avenue Z.

Someone locked this Value City Shopping Cart onto a young tree at the corner of Avenue Y and East 18 Street in front of the Super Stop & Shop supermarket parking lot.

Within the week, the same shopping cart still locked in place, was a dumping ground for an assortment of garbage and recylables. Inside the cart, there was a old school CRT computer monitor, boxes, and general refuse.

It looks like whoever illegally abandoned the shopping cart and whoever dumped the garbage illegally into the shopping cart didn’t feel like walking the extra few feet to the Super Stop & Shop lot to abandon the entire lot.

Aren’t those supposed to be sand barrels for putting out fires? Instead, people are using them to dump all sorts of goods. There was a blue, plastic tarp, bottles, coffee cups, house slippers, and a banana peel amongst the mess.

Value City is a furniture store in New Jersey, but for some reason the produce store on (near the car wash exit by Avenue Y) prefers to have Value City’s name on their carts.