It’s the third year in the row the city is trying to shutter the school – this time by replacing it with two public schools and two charter schools – and some school supporters say the teachers, students and parents have simply been beaten, broken and demoralized by the process.
If the plan to close Sheepshead Bay High School is approved, a “phase out” period would begin in which no new ninth graders would be accepted to the school. Current students would be allowed to graduate or transfer out, and, beginning this September, a new public high school, two new charter high schools, and a district transfer high school would all be co-located in the same facility.
Screenshot of BCTV host Alyonka Larionov from “BCTV – Brighton Beach” by Ali Hashemi. Source: Vimeo
If you have visited the brand-spanking new Barclays Center this year, you might have already seen this cool new tribute to Brighton Beach, which has been playing on Barclays Center Television (BCTV).
The video features the fetching Alyonka Larionov jaunting her way through Brighton Beach, eating authentic pierogis, vamping like Leo DiCaprio on the boardwalk, and sharing drinks with some friendly Moscovians in town to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
Aloynka, who makes mention of her Russian roots, does get a little confused when referencing Brighton Beach Boulevard, which we all know doesn’t exist. Geographic error aside, she leads an otherwise cheerful tour through Brighton Beach, checking out Russian hats, Russian dolls (no, not these Russian Dolls) and Russian candy. She even expounds a little upon that “funny little creature,” Cheburashka.
It’s a fun, snappily-edited and mood-brightening journey though Little Odessa.
Vic DiBiteto is clearly a victim of the media hype surrounding Nemo – which, by the way, is a name bestowed by The Weather Channel, not the National Weather Service, which doles out the real names, and never to winter storms.
Anyway, Vic, a comedian and former performer at the much-missed Pips, needs to get his bread and milk before the flurries start falling.
Have you picked up your bread and milk?
Thanks to Ann H. for pointing this out to us on Facebook.
FEMA has approved $103 million in aid to the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation to help fund repairs at facilities including Coney Island Hospital (2601 Ocean Parkway).
Senator Charles Schumer announced last week that the funding would come through, according to the Wall Street Journal, and will contribute to repairs at Bellevue Hospital, Goler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Metropolitan Hospital Center in addition to Coney Island.
The $103 million package still falls far from the $810 million HHC execs said they needed to come back from Sandy at a press conference two weeks ago. That number includes $200 million for Coney Island Hospital, and is the total estimated price for repairs, revenue loss and improvements to protect against future storms.
Regardless, the FEMA grant will help fill the coffers and keep repairs underway.
“I’ve seen the damage with my own eyes, and it was devastating. I appreciate FEMA listening to our pleas and getting these funds here quickly. This is not the end of the aid that these hospitals will need – not by a long shot – and we’ll keep fighting until the hospitals have been fully restored and they can get back to what they’re good at – helping New Yorkers heal and recover,” Schumer said Thursday.
Coney Island Hospital is currently open for most outpatient and some inpatient services. They expect to be fully operational and resuming emergency room intake within the next few months.
The “all in” costs for repairing Coney Island Hospital (2601 Ocean Parkway) and upgrading it to be better prepared for future storms is approximately $200 million, Health and Hospitals Corporation President Alan Aviles told Sheepshead Bites during a press conference yesterday.
Aviles led U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and reporters on a tour of the facility, showing off the hospital’s progress nearly two and a half months after Superstorm Sandy. The two announced that repairs to the city’s public hospitals in the wake of the storm and necessary improvements will cost $810 million – an amount included in the $51 billion aid being considered in Congress.
‘Tis the season for giving, and despite the continued struggles they themselves face after Superstorm Sandy, Southern Brooklyn residents proved their generosity by doling out more than 9,000 toys for last night’s Toys for Tots closeout party at the 41st Assembly District Democrats Club.
Santa’s little helpers paraded around the mountain of dolls, games, books and crafts carrying signs of the toy totals from every year since the drive kicked off in 2001. Without going down even once, the numbers grew from just 79 to a whopping 9,004, unveiled by Mr. Met and Sandy the Seagull, making a 12-year total of 47,680 gifts given to the program.
“There will be 10,000 young people who will get a gift, put a smile on their face, that they wouldn’t have had otherwise. And that is certainly the gift that we have to give on the holidays,” Councilman Lew Fidler told the dense crowd that packed into the small Marine Park clubhouse at 2952 Avenue R.
Home burglaries and traffic incidents spiked in November due to Superstorm Sandy, but, overall, things are getting back to normal within the 61st Precinct’s command, Captain John Chell told members of the 61st Precinct Community Council last night.
Chell kicked off the meeting by again thanking the community for the tremendous outpouring of support from neighbors in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, saying that their efforts bolstered the police department’s effectiveness in the first few trying days after the flood water receded.
“This is our team right here. Community, elected officials, precinct council, myself,” Chell said.
But while the storm spurred on neighborliness, it also encouraged criminals. Chell noted that there was a spate in apartment burglaries in November, wherein perps were breaking in to apartments through the fire escape. Most of the incidents, he said, were confined to the southern stretch of the command, where Sheepshead Bay meets Manhattan Beach, and all along Emmons Avenue.
But Chell again pointed to his theory that one percent of individuals are responsible for 100 percent of the crime, and noted that after making two arrests for those apartment break-ins, the looting statistics tapered off.
“When you grab the right person doing the right crime and put them in jail, it’s remarkable how you can see the number, if you will, just come down,” he said. “Hopefully it stays that way.”
Traffic accidents, including an unspecified amount in which pedestrians were struck, also surged after the hurricane knocked out power to traffic lights. As service to the lights has been restored, traffic statistics are returning to normal, Chell said.
Aside from the two Sandy-related upticks, Chell noted that car break-ins continue to “plague us,” even remarking that a member of his own family had some items stolen from their vehicle recently.
“We, collectively, I think we’re all guilty. We run to the store, running late to be home, we leave our bag in the car and we make mistakes. And it kind of hurts us,” he said, reminding residents not to leave anything in their car, and to ensure their doors are always locked. The command is also circulating photos internally of known car break-in perps, which they’re hoping to use to catch the thieves in the act.
“For the most part, we have their pictures, we try to follow them and we try to catch them … and we’ve had success with that,” he said.
The first floor of Coney Island Hospital’s main building at 2601 Ocean Parkway remains a breathtaking reminder of the storm’s damage. Located nearly a mile away from the Sheepshead Bay bulkhead, and a mile-and-a-half from the Atlantic Ocean, a 14-foot storm surge barreled through the facility.
Now, electrical wiring dangles from the exposed ceilings, and walls and floors are ripped apart as contractors rebuild, and prevent further damage from mold and moisture.
But the hospital is now getting back online – at least in part – and administrators express pride in how quickly the staff rallied together to continue providing services to the community.
“It was only a few weeks ago that Superstorm Sandy forced the evacuation of all of our patients here and the temporary closure of the hospital after flood waters inundated the 10-foot-deep basement, washed through the first floor and cut off most of the vital systems needed to operate this facility safely,” said Alan Aviles, president and chief executive officer of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), at a press conference this morning. “But despite the severe damage caused by the flood waters, Coney Island Hospital was able to open its doors just days after the storm to again begin serving New Yorkers most in need of healthcare.”
As in Manhattan Beach, Hurricane Sandy pummeled the Sheepshead Bay waterfront. We had hoped to get out take some photos and video of our own, but spent all that time sorting through the enormous volume of user-submitted items we received. And, anyway, these guys and gals captured most of the things I had planned to get photos of.
Thanks to Danil Rudoy, Jane Stern, Alex Morozov, Jewly D, Thomas LoPinto, Yelena Ostrovskaya, Emily Braunstein, Andrey, Amanda Ardito, zvi greenspan, Lev Feldman, Andrew.in.RWC, Michelle Shalmiyev, Daniel McGowan, Kristel Simmonds-Cobb, Eric Dwyer, Daniel Rubin, James Chen, Ruth Gottesman, Lev Feldman, Kelly Bridwell, ken.jets, Eugene, Allen Friedman, Dmitry Epshteyn, Michelle November, Dmitry Epshteyn, Issabella vinokurov, Mia Aginsky, Andrey Smorgunov, Mike Star, Michael Yuryev, achiko88, Skblaugrana10, Baawsman and Avtandil Tsertsvadze for the submissions.
As for me, I need to go pump my own basement out. This will be it until later in the evening or tomorrow.
