SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

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.

Photo by Erica Sherman

Still need work done on your home, but having trouble finding the funds? Can’t figure out how to navigate the system’s not-so-rapid Rapid Repairs Program? Attend this town hall!

Representatives of New York City’s Rapid Repairs unit will attend a town hall meeting to answer questions and, hopefully, expedite services to our neighborhood, on Monday, December 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at P.S. 52 (2675 East 29th Street).

Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, Assemblyman Alan Maisel and Councilman Lew Fidler organized the event, following a meeting with Plumb Beach and Sheepshead Bay residents at Roll-N-Roaster, where it was clear that clarification of the program’s offerings for home repair was needed.

You can make an appointment for Rapid Repair service, but, first, you must have registered for disaster assistance with FEMA by going to DisasterAssistance.gov, and have a FEMA ID number.

Then, sign up for the NYC Rapid Repair services by registering online, calling 311 or visiting a Disaster Assistance Service Center and registering there.

A contractor will come to your home and assess the damage, then a work order will be created and contractors will fix the home.

Well, almost everything. Ninety-nine percent of everything, if you’re to believe one of the candidates.

Republican Russ Gallo and Independence Party candidate Ben Akselrod faced off – sort of – last night during the Manhattan Beach Community Group’s town hall debate, but, with incumbent Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz absent, they found themselves agreeing far more than not.

Charter schools? They’re both for it. Corruption in Albany? They’re against it. The MTA? Open those books! Small businesses? Can we please cut back on the regulations and fines? Term limits? Well, when the incumbent they’re looking to unseat has been in office for 12 years, you bet they’re for it.

That’s not to mention that Gallo and Akselrod agree on a slew of other topics not mentioned during the debate: gay marriage (against), the Voorhies Avenue mosque (against), Israel (FOR!).

One attendee – okay, I did it – submitted a question noting the candidates’ similarities on so many topics, and asked that they speak a little on what differentiates them from each other.

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State Senator Marty Golden will be hosting a town hall meeting tonight, October 23, 7:00 p.m. at the Salt Marsh Nature Center, 3302 Avenue U at East 33rd Street. Golden is inviting residents of the community to attend and discuss quality of life and legislative issues.

Representatives from the New York City Department of Finance, the Department of Buildings, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the New York City Police Department, the New York City Fire Department and the Department of Sanitation have confirmed their attendance.

“I look forward to leading these conversations with the community so to provide an update on a variety of neighborhood issues and important legislation which I have recently been working on,” Golden stated. “I am glad to join with representatives of key City agencies to work with residents to resolve local problems in an effort to improve our quality of life. I hope you will join me…”

For more information, contact Golden’s office at (718) 238-6044 or email at golden@nysenate.gov.

THE COMMUTE: Ned heard my name for the first time when I emailed him in March 2010 with my testimony opposing the Brooklyn bus service cuts at the public hearing held in the Brooklyn Museum of Art. That was shortly after I discovered Sheepshead Bites. He quoted a significant portion of my testimony for a story and ultimately asked me to become a regular contributor. At that hearing, I was the only person who spoke out against the B4’s proposed elimination, at all times, east of Coney Island Hospital.

Find out what we can learn from our fight for the B4.

It's (going to be) back! Victory! (Photo by Allan Rosen)

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: After petitions, public workshops and letters from local officials, the MTA will announce today that the B4 bus line will be fully restored by January 2013.

The fate of the line, which had weekend and off-peak service axed in 2010 east of Ocean Parkway, was unclear earlier this week, when Sheepshead Bites reported that the agency was considering major improvements across the borough. But local leaders told Sheepshead Bites that MTA officials informed them this morning that the agencies plan to announce that the B4, as well as other diminished lines across Southern Brooklyn, will see full or partial restorations.

The B4′s restoration already has locals elated, including members of the Sheepshead Bay – Plumb Beach Civic Association, which collected more than 2,000 signatures to a petition demanding the agency bring back the line to Emmons Avenue, Shore Parkway and Knapp Street.

“I am just so glad. Everybody is going to be so thrilled,” said Kathy Flynn, president of the SBPB Civic, upon hearing the news. “This is going to help everyone who has to go to the hospital, the clinic, the businesses, anyone who has to visit, as well as the disabled in the area. People who commute to Manhattan every day, they only have to take one bus to the station. It’s going to save a lot of people a lot of time and a lot of stress.”

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Local elected officials pledged support to bringing back full B4 bus service and other public transportation improvements to the area at last night’s Sheepshead Bay Transit Town Hall, organized by Sheepshead Bites, Transportation Alternatives, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz and the Sheepshead Bay – Plumb Beach Civic Association.

More than 50 people turned out for the event to share their experiences with mass transportation in the area, emphatically expressing the community’s desire to restore the B4 to a 24/7 bus line after service cuts in 2010 eliminated the line east of Ocean Parkway on weekends and off-peak hours on weekdays. The Sheepshead Bay – Plumb Beach Civic Association presented elected officials with a petition signed by more than 1,000 people, and when a representative from Transportation Alternatives asked the crowd how many of them were affected by the B4 cuts, every hand in the room went up.

“Over 90 percent of our residents in this community rely on mass transit regularly,” Cymbrowitz said in his opening statements. “Ideas that appear brilliant on paper often fail to deliver in practice. One example? The decision to provide B4 bus service to Knapp Street and Voorhies Avenue during peak periods Monday to Friday, leaving thousands of potential riders without viable mass transit services.”

Keep reading to find out what other concerns and proposals came out of the meeting, and what the next steps will be.

Don’t forget: Sheepshead Bites is hosting a Transit Town Hall to push for the restoration of the B4 service, as well as to convey to our elected officials how important public transportation is to our community.

The event, held in conjunction with Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, Sheepshead Bay – Plumb Beach Civic Association and Transportation Alternatives’ Rider Rebellion Campaign, will kick off at 7:00 p.m. at Baron DeKalb – Knights of Columbus (3000 Emmons Avenue).

This is not an MTA gripe session. We’re not looking for generic complaints about the system, but proposals to fix the problems plaguing commuters. Among the issues to be discussed are:

• Restoring full B4 service from Coney Island Hospital to Knapp Street (and perhaps tweaking the route to better serve residents)
• Propose alterations to the B44 SBS route, which will replace the B44 Limited
• Suggestions for better riding conditions on other bus and subway lines in the neighborhood

More information can be found on our previous post.

We live here. We shop here. Some of us even work here. So when it comes to mass transit, we know what we want, what we need, and what we ain’t getting.

That’s why Sheepshead Bites is proud to announce the Sheepshead Bay Transit Town Hall, an evening workshop for brainstorming and proposing key fixes to mass transit in our area.

The event, held in conjunction with Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, Sheepshead Bay – Plumb Beach Civic Association and Transportation Alternatives’ Rider Rebellion Campaign, will kick off at 7:00 p.m. at Baron DeKalb – Knights of Columbus (3000 Emmons Avenue).

(TAKE OUR 3-MINUTE SURVEY AND LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON SHEEPSHEAD BAY MASS TRANSIT!)

We know what it’s like out there. If you live in Plumb Beach and want to get anywhere – good luck. Since the B4 was all but abolished (no weekend service, only certain brief hours during weekdays), the tens of thousands of residents south of the Belt Parkway and east of Bedford Avenue have no easy way to get around. If you get off the train at Sheepshead Bay train station, your only destination by bus is Nostrand Avenue or Ocean Avenue, unless you’re heading to Manhattan Beach or Coney Island. And, speaking of getting to other neighborhoods, there isn’t a single good bus option to get to Bensonhurst or Bay Ridge (or for them to get here!)

That’s why we’re asking you to come down next Thursday for the Town Hall, and help us put together a plan – by residents and for residents – to tweak the system to serve us better.

This is not an MTA gripe session. We’re not looking for generic complaints about the system, but proposals to fix the problems plaguing commuters. Among the issues to be discussed are:

• Restoring full B4 service from Coney Island Hospital to Knapp Street (and perhaps tweaking the route to better serve residents)
• Propose alterations to the B44 SBS route, which will replace the B44 Limited
• Suggestions for better riding conditions on other bus and subway lines in the neighborhood

Better service not only means it’s easier for us to get around, but that it’s easier for residents from other Brooklyn neighborhoods to come here, shop here, eat here, sail here and support our local institutions. Better business for the Bay means better living conditions for its residents.

But we need your help. We need your ideas, and we need your presence. Once we as a neighborhood have developed a plan, our elected officials will take it to Albany and to the MTA. And, here at Sheepshead Bites, we’ll keep the pressure on with ongoing coverage.

So join us on May 17, and improve mass transit for all of Sheepshead Bay! (Don’t forget to take our survey, as we’ll be using the results at the Town Hall.)

WHEN: May 17, 2012 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
WHERE: Baron DeKalb – Knights of Columbus (3000 Emmons Avenue)
Refreshments will be served.

Republican State Senate contender David Storobin told attendees of a civic meeting this week that he supports implementing term limits for members of the state legislature, and explained that his proposal to give tuition vouchers for private school students would be funded by “existing revenue streams.”

Storobin appeared before the Manhattan Beach Community Group on Wednesday, February 29, as part of the civic’s Candidate’s Night – although his Democratic opponent was forced to cancel for health reasons. Storobin took questions for about 40 minutes, touching on issues including his thoughts on job creation, reducing regulations and fees affecting businesses, and his support for charter schools.

The Republican candidate didn’t elaborate more on what he meant by funding tuition vouchers with existing revenue streams, though he did say that the tuition vouchers would match per-child spending in public schools, and hinted that – if parents remove their children from the public school – the funding would come out of city and state education spending.

“Every child at this point gets a certain amount of money – which is about $18,000 … When it comes to that money, the parents would get it and they would be able to have a choice of what to do with that,” he said. “If they want the student to go to public school, they would get the same exact budget they got before.”