SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

For one intersection in Marine Park, red lights seem to mean nothing. On Kings Highway and East 34th Street, vehicle drivers have thrown out the rule book on traffic lights.

Residents there have witnessed all types of vehicles from a bus to an ice cream truck run a red light, and local video journalist Shimon Gifter shared videos with CBS showing violators blowing through the red in broad daylight.

“They just come around and keep on going,” Flatlands resident Eleanor Ortiz told CBS.

Witnesses even took a video of a driver running over those flimsy lane dividers often seen in construction sites. Short of the supernatural, it remains unclear why this intersection seems to be such a magnet for law-breakers.

CBS interviewed a few people familiar with the area who had their own speculations.

Some drivers familiar with the area said you can break the law and not even know it since the multi-colored row of traffic lights can cause blurred lines.

“Even though the red light is for you, you’re also seeing the other light which is green. So you sometimes tend to ignore the red light even though it’s for you and focus on the green light which is visible to you, but not really for you,” said Flatlands resident Boris Siper.

When CBS reached out to the Department of Transportation to comment on this, they said, “Safety is DOT’s first priority. The agency is looking at the location to see if additional signage can enhance safety.”

Source: FriendsofOceanParkway.org

Our friend Allen Shweky of Friends of Ocean Parkway notes that the Department of Transportation has kicked off the latest round of rehabilitation along the nation’s second oldest parkway.

The east mall of the corridor between Avenue N and Kings Highway is closed off to pedestrians, as the city preps to redo the asphalt, landscaping and benches. Shweky said there’s no timeline for the work.

The entire length of the mall has seen major construction over the last few years, with the most recent stretch being completed in 2012. Work stopped then until fresh funding was allocated through Councilman David Greenfield’s office.

Shweky writes that the section most in need remains untouched:

The real immediate work that really needs to be done on the west mall between Avenue U and Avenue X remains a dangerous hazard especially to bike riders.  Seems that that critical part of the entire mall renovation project is still a long way off.

Source: Murdock Solon

A real estate management company linked to the owner of one of the city’s leading necktie manufacturers and wholesalers has taken over a swath of Kings Highway real estate, with plans to redevelop the property into a five-story retail and office development.

Several stores on the northern side of the corridor, from East 16th Street to East 17th Street, have shuttered in recent months, including the area’s McDonald’s restaurant. The building appears to still be owned by Kingsway Realty, according to city records, which has had its name inscribed on the facade since taking over the property in 1973.

1601-1607 Kings Highway, where several stores have shuttered in recent months to make way for redevelopment. (Photo by Ned Berke)

Now plans are being considered by the Department of Buildings to tear down the two-story structure occupying the 17,880-square-foot lot, originally built in 1930, and replace it with a brand new facility, anchored by two floors of retail shopping and three floors of office space.

The building is being designed by the architectural firm of Murdock Solon. Renderings on their website show an ultra-modern design, featuring large bulked-out windows, a patterned facade and setbacks with rooftop gardens to be viewed by the office workers on the upper levels.

With escalators drawn into the middle of the retail space, it appears the developer may be aiming to attract a large retail tenant to occupy the bulk of the space.

There is parking for 25 vehicles and five bicycles in the basement level of the property, according to documents submitted to the DOB. The new building will stand 79 feet tall, and have 67,355 square-feet of space.

Although Kingsway appears to still be the owner of the property according to ACRIS, the online database of the City Register, the plans were submitted to the DOB on behalf of Lake Realty Inc., naming Walter Schik as the officer.

Schik is an Austrian-Jewish immigrant who fled Nazi persecution. Resettled in New York, he founded Bentley Cravats in 1947, which manufactures neckties, bow ties and other neckware.

Lake Realty Management LLC, which appears to be the official name of the company as registered with the state, manages a handful of properties in Brooklyn and Manhattan, including a nearby apartment building at 1233 East 19th Street.

Calls to Schik’s office were not returned.

The plans for the new five-story building were rejected in March, with the Department of Buildings stating that the drawings were incomplete. Calls to Murdock Solon for a status update were not returned.

Photos via Murdock Solon.

It was less than a year ago that Funkiberry, a frozen yogurt outpost, opened on Avenue U and Ocean Avenue.

The franchise continues to expand, with a new location set to open soon at 1917 Kings Highway (between East 19th Street and Ocean Avenue).

A third location already exists on 3rd Avenue in Manhattan, and the website indicates plans for international locations in Russia, Italy, the Ukraine, France and China.

The storefront was most recently occupied by a dry cleaners.

The suspects. (Source: NYPD via NBC)

More details have emerged in the bank robbery spree we told you about earlier this week, in which four banks were hit in a span of just two hours.

Originally, it was reported that police were looking for one suspect in a case that saw robberies or attempted robberies from Gravesend to Bergen Beach.

Now police say they’re seeking two men for the Monday afternoon heists.

The men hit the four banks between 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., getting away with a $6,300 haul.

NBC reports that the suspects entered each bank and gave the teller a note demanding money.

The suspects made off with $1,800 from Capital One at 2102 Ralph Avenue, and $4,500 from Santander Bank at 301 Avenue U in Gravesend.

They also hit Chase Bank at 1987 Flatbush Avenue and Northfield Bank at 1123 Kings Highway, but tellers refused to cooperate at those locations.

Surveillance video captured the above images of the suspects.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

The location of Santander bank at 302 Avenue U, where the first robbery took place. (Source: Google Maps)

Cops are hunting for a man described as black, approximately 6-foot-2-inches tall, with a scar on his face in connection with a string of bank robberies that happened across Southern Brooklyn yesterday. The suspect was wearing a black hoodie at the time of the robberies.

Police say the man robbed four banks between Gravesend and Canarsie within just a few hours, according to News 12.

The spree began at Santander bank at 301 Avenue U, just off McDonald Avenue, at 2:30 p.m. He then went on to Ralph Avenue’s Capital One bank, hit a Flatbush Avenue Chase bank, and ended with a Northfield bank on Kings Highway.

In at least one of the cases, he passed tellers a note demanding money. It’s not yet known how much he made off with.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

The suspects were captured by surveillance video at the Avenue U Telco.

Officers from the 61st Precinct are turning to the public in their search for two women accused of stealing another woman’s wallet in Telco Discount Store.

The women were caught on surveillance cameras in the 2901 Avenue U store, where they’re believed to have attempted to steal another woman’s wallet. Police told News 12 that the women grabbed the wallet from the woman’s purse and then pushed her into a clothing rack.

The incident happened on March 22. The would-be thieves dropped the wallet in the store during their getaway, and it was later recovered.

The women bare a striking resemblance to two members of a crew of alleged wallet thieves who hit other local clothing stores last year. At that time, the police distributed photos from surveillance video, saying that the thieves had hit stores including the Sheepshead Bay Marshalls (1623 Avenue Y), the Kings Highway T.J. Maxx (1630 East 15th Street), and the Kohl’s at Ceasar’s Bay, swiping wallets and credit cards from unattended purses. They had been connected to at least four incidents between July and August 2013.

Police at the 61st Precinct did not return calls from Sheepshead Bites regarding a connection between the cases.

During the precinct Community Council meetings, Captain John Chell has repeatedly told residents over the past year that wallet theft from unattended purses and bags in department stores and at beaches continues to be a problem, and has reminded them to keep their property in sight at all times.

If you have information regarding these crimes or suspects, please call the  61st Precinct Detective Squad at (718) 627-6620 or the 61st Precinct at (718) 627-6611.

Kings Highway and East 16th Street (Source: Google Maps)

A Cardozo School of Law student is suing the city and two police officers from the 61st Precinct, claiming they wrongfully arrested him after he chewed them out for parking in a bus stop to grab some food.

Tzvi Richt, 22, was given two disorderly conduct summonses after he got fed up and mouthed off to two officers who he claims chased off a man for parking in a bus stop – and then took the spot for themselves.

The incident happened in December, when Richt was on his way home from final exams. He spotted two officers in their patrol car at Kings Highway and East 16th Street. The boys in blue were honking at a man using a nearby ATM to move his car from a bus zone. When that man hurriedly pulled away to avoid a ticket, the cops pulled into the bus stop, left their vehicle, and hit a nearby food truck for some chow, the suit alleges.

The New York Post details what happened next:

Richt approached NYPD officers Graham Braithwaite and Jason Pinero and quizzed them about the apparent double standard.

“Plaintiff asked the officers whether they thought what they had done was right,” the suit states. “Kicking a civilian’s car out of a bus stop so that they could park there just to get food.”

Richt claims that he asked the question in a respectful manner and was not “yelling or shouting,” according to court papers.

Braithwaite tried to shoo Richt away – but he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“Plaintiff responded by asking whether he wasn’t allowed to ask a question of a police officer,” the suit states.

Braithwaite then demanded Richt’s identification – but the student asked if they had the right to make the request.

That’s when Braithwaite put him in cuffs and threw him in the back of the cruiser, the suit claims. Pinero apparently attempted to urge his partner to forget about it and move on, but to no avail.

Richt spent an hour and a half behind bars before getting the disorderly conduct citations.

The Daily News notes that the summonses were tossed in court, and that Braithwaite has been transferred to desk duty while his superiors investigate.

Oh boy, it was windy out yesterday. How windy was it? Windy enough to rip down the signage of this closed store on Kings Highway and East 16th Street.

Submitted by Abraham V.

Oh, and we’ll have more about this building later. Hint, hint…

A woman attempts to pass beneath the B/Q line at Avenue Y, a daunting task.

New York City residents and business owners are required to clear their sidewalks after snow storms or face heavy fines from city authorities. But city agencies have failed to clear many public sidewalks and those abutting government property, suggesting a double standard that puts pedestrians at risk.

With 48 inches of snow falling over the course of 22 days since January 1, deadbeat landlords who’ve failed to shovel paths have become a reviled caricature in New York City. Currently, they could face fines of $150, and a local City Council member has introduced new legislation that would direct city workers to clear private sidewalks and forward the bill to the property owner.

But while city workers may one day be deployed to clear private sidewalks, Sheepshead Bites has found a number of government-owned sidewalks that those same city workers have failed to clear.

Among the worst spots this publication surveyed yesterday are the underpasses of the B/Q Brighton line, all located between East 15th Street and East 16th Street. From Sheepshead Bay Road to Kings Highway, not one of the half dozen underpasses without a subway station had clear paths shoveled on both sides of the street, and even some of those with a subway station were left uncleared. In most locations, the northern side of the street was partially shoveled, while the southern side remained untouched.

Keep reading to learn whose responsibility it is, and view the pictures of their neglect.