SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Here’s some hard-hitting news for you: Waldbaum’s at 3100 Ocean Avenue now requires a 25-cent deposit to use their shopping cart, reports reader nolastname.

Nolastname asked management about the development, and they said that too many shopping carts have been stolen recently. But nolastname has her own thoughts on the topic:

“$.25 is not going to stop someone from stealing a wagon that is worth a couple hundred,” she wrote to us. “I figure one or more high end cars got scratched/dented and are suing Wally World for not keeping the wagons contained.”

So nolastname was just wandering around the Bay this morning with her camera, when she stumbled upon this kid “bombed” in the Waldbaum’s parking lot on Ocean Avenue at around 9:00 a.m. Apparently, he face planted.

An FDNY ambulance pulled up next to the kid (who did not notice), and then turned on the siren. The kid shot up “like a bat outa’ hell,” according to nolastname, and tried walking away.

We’re betting the conversation between the EMS responders went something like this:

“Oh, look, a kid on the floor.”

“Is he dead?”

“I don’t know, let’s find out.”

Whoooop! Whooooop!

“Nope. And apparently he has healthy bowels, too….”

Don’t do drugs, kids. People will make fun of you.

Source: "FDNY Remembering the Waldbaums Fire August 2, 1978" (facebook group). Photo by John G. Dwyer

As the 10-year anniversary of September 11, 2001 looms, we reflect upon the anniversary of the tragic Waldbaum’s fire, 33 years ago today, heretofore the greatest loss of life for the FDNY in Brooklyn until the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

Firefighter George Rice, 38, of Ladder 153; FF James McManus, 48; Cov. Lt. James Cutillo, 39, 33rd Battalion; FF Harold Hastings, 39, 42nd Battalion; FF Charles Bouton, 38, Ladder 156; and William O’Connor, 29 of Ladder 156 all lost their lives on August 2, 1978 when the roof of the supermarket at Ocean Avenue and Avenue Y collapsed at approximately 9:02 a.m. A total of 12 firefighters fell into the belly of the raging inferno, and 34 additional firefighters were also wounded in a desperate attempt to save their fellow brothers.

As we reported last year:

In 1999, the city renamed the corner “Firemen’s Corner,” in what is said to be the last public dedication to honor the fallen heroes.

A Facebook page frequently visited by family and friends also keeps the memory of those who passed alive, as does an annual mass held this morning at St. Brendans Church. You can also read the account of Steve Spak, another FDNY photographer on the scene that morning.

As we also reported, JGDwyerPhotography’s John G. Dwyer, who has photographed the FDNY for more than 30 years, created a haunting montage recalling the tragic day, and paying tribute to those hero firefighters, whose supreme sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Correction: The original version of this article stated that the 1978 Waldbaum’s fire was “heretofore the greatest loss of life for the FDNY until the terrorist attacks on 9/11.” As astute reader “Kp” points out, the greatest loss of life suffered by the FDNY was actually the Madison Green five-alarm blaze in October 1966, which resulted in the deaths of 12 firefighters. The Waldbaum’s fire represented the FDNY’s biggest pre-9/11 loss of life in Brooklyn only. Our apologies for the confusion.

Source: Google Maps

Elected officials have fired off letters to Stop & Shop, White Rose, D’Agostino Supermarkets, Key Food and Whole Foods in an attempt to find a replacement supermarket for Pathmark on 3785 Nostand Avenue, they announced yesterday. Meanwhile, one media outlet is stirring the Walmart pot.

Continue Reading »

Photo by Ned Berke

A predatory towing company is stalking Sheepshead Bay’s parking lots and charging residents illegal fees – sometimes as much as five times the legally allowed amount.

Williamsburg-based Fast Way Towing & Recovery (31 Grand Avenue) manages several local parking lots, including the CVS at 1402 Sheepshead Bay Road, and Waldbaums, at 3100 Ocean Avenue. And according to area residents, the company is engaged in abusive behavior and charging exorbitant fees.

Continue Reading »

Source: Google Maps

Congressman Anthony Weiner is weighing in on the closure of the Nostrand Avenue Pathmark, saying that he’ll fight to bring a new supermarket to the area.

“Residents of Sheepshead Bay shouldn’t be forced to leave the neighborhood to buy groceries,” Weiner said in a press release. “It’s unfortunate that Pathmark is closing, but now it’s all hands on deck to ensure that we bring a new supermarket to Nostrand Avenue.”

The congressman plans to begin reaching out to other supermarket chains to find a suitable tenant at the 3785 Nostrand Avenue location. In a statement, his office said he’ll be working with the business community and local leaders, and hopes to secure a promise from the landlord to make the space available exclusively for a supermarket.

According to the press release, Weiner was a key player in bringing Pathmark to the neighborhood in 2002, following the closure of Key Food on Avenue U.

Source: Google Maps

Say it ain’t so. Pathmark supermarket on Nostrand Avenue is going to close. But don’t despair – politicians are looking to work with the property owner to get a new supermarket in that location.

Pathmark’s owner, A&P, filed for bankruptcy protection last December, and on Tuesday morning, A&P officials broke the news to the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 that the Pathmark at 3785 Nostrand Avenue – which employs about 100 people – will close its doors for good. That’s just one of the 32 A&P-owned stores that will be closing, officials say, but the only one in New York City. A&P is cutting all these stores in hopes that doing so will stop the financial bleeding from their current $3.2 billion debt.

Read about who’s trying to keep a supermarket at that spot, and weigh in on who you’d like to replace it.

The holidays can be tough. Hauling frozen turkeys and canned goods back and forth, back and forth all day long… it takes its toll. This poor shopping cart gave up in the middle of it, collapsing at the curb by Waldbaum’s at 3100 Ocean Avenue.

Photo by Ed L.

Shopping cart in search of a locksmith to let him back into his home. (Photo courtesy of Stefanee Rivera))

A reader, Stefanee Rivera, sent us this photograph of a lost shopping cart and gave us the background story.

This poor little guy was found early Saturday morning seeking assistance from the locksmith inside. Apparently he got locked out of his house (Walbaum’s) and couldn’t find a neighbor to help. He wandered over to the locksmith on Ave. X and Ocean Ave.  for some help getting back inside. The nice locksmith who works there called his parents and told them he was waiting for them at the shop. They said they would be “right over”  to pick him up. However, according to the locksmith, at 3:45PM, the lonely little shopping cart was still there waiting for his mom and dad. I suggested he call the Administration for Shopping Cart Services (ASCS) if they hadn’t come to pick him up by closing time.

Hearing the news that the shopping complex where the Waldbaum’s store is located has been sold for $10 million, may have made him a little nervous about his family’s future.

This is the remains of a wreath placed on Firemen’s Corner (Ocean Avenue and Avenue Y) last Monday, on the anniversary of the 1978 Waldbaum’s Fire. See photos of a memorial mass held last week.

Photo by BrooklynQ.