SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

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It’s hard to believe that summer isn’t even officially over, and yet Rosh Hashana will be upon us this week.

To that end, Kehilat Moshe of Sheepshead Bay, under the leadership of Rabbi Shlomo Segal, invites all to usher in the spirit of the High Holiday season with a Selichot service and concert, this Saturday evening, September 20 at 8:30pm.

The concert, featuring the beautiful violin and piano music of the High Holy Days, will be held at 2801 Emmons Avenue between East 28th Street and 29th Street. No fee is required but you must RSVP by emailing [email protected] or calling (347) 850-4170.

Photo by Albert Hasson

Photo by Albert Hasson

Morning Mug is our daily showcase of photographs from our readers. If you have a photograph that you’d like to see featured, send it to [email protected].

Source: Michael S.

Swastika graffiti is hardly new in the Sheepshead Bay area, but seeing it on a building dedicated to war veterans is a bit too much to stand.

Reader Michael S. tipped us off to a new swastika sighted at the Marlboro Memorial Post 1437 American Legion building at 300 Avenue X, submitting the photos yesterday.

He writes:

I was walking on avenue X between west 1st and west 2nd, when I spotted a swastika In front of a building. I will ask and offer my help for the removal in a few days, in an effort to allow management to rid of it themselves. Let me know if you are interested in their reply immediately after I approach them in regards to this matter. Pictures included .

Keeping this symbol Infront of their establishment does NOT register as American nationalism to me.

As we told Michael, the city does operate a free graffiti removal service. You can submit a claim here, call your councilman’s office (in this case, Mark Treyger at [718] 307-7151) or call 311. We recommend doing all three.

Anybody can make a request, but for private property it can take longer as they need the landlord’s consent. We’re sure, once Michael notifies the American Legion post, they’ll be fine with doing away with the symbol of hate that many of them fought against.

Source: Google Maps

An elderly woman was arrested after she allegedly tossed it down the trash chute of her Batchelder Street building, causing injuries that led to its death.

Cops were called to 2334 Batchelder Street in the Sheepshead – Nostrand Houses at around 5pm on Tuesday, after a neighbor heard the canine’s cries echoing up the shaft leading to the trash compactor.

The Daily News reports:

“She went to throw out the garbage and she heard the dog crying,” [a neighbor] said. “I ran to housing and got (them) to open up where the (compactors) are because the door was locked.”

She said she found the dog bleeding in the bottom of the trash compactor.

“It was bleeding. It was still crying,” she said.

The dog’s owner, who reportedly lives on the fourth floor, was not identified. Police took her into custody for questioning, but she was later released. It is unclear if she will face charges.

The dog was crippled by its injuries and unable to walk. It was rushed to a nearby vet and later transferred to the care of the ASPCA. It had to be euthanized due to its injuries.

The elderly woman was overheard telling police that the dog “made me miserable, I have pain,” as she was put into the back of a police vehicle.

UPDATE (12:15pm): Nashaly Perez was found safe and sound at a friend’s house, and has been reunited with her family.

Original post:

Nashaly Perez, the 15-year-old Coney Island girl who went missing from her school on Monday, was a special needs student who was supposed to be under the constant supervision of a full-time paraprofessional.

Perez suffers from attention deficit disorder and behavioral problems, gets easily confused, and also takes anti-hallucinatory medication, according to reports. But despite being assigned a full-time paraprofessional, she managed to sneak out a back door of her school, P.S. 371 in Sunset Park, around lunchtime.

Now the family is saying the school failed to take the situation seriously until police were called.

DNAinfo reports:

[Perez’s mother Sandra] Rodriguez found out her daughter was missing when she went to pick up her up early from school at about 1 p.m. on Monday because she had a doctor’s appointment.

The mother said Nashaly’s paraprofessional was standing outside when she arrived at the school and seemed unconcerned and told her “your daughter left school.”

Rodriguez then went to the principal, who she said “seemed surprised” that her daughter was missing.

They then called Nashaly’s homeroom teacher who said she also did not know where the teen was.

Rodriguez said the principal’s staff then “kept working, ignoring her” and told her “they were done with her” and she could go home.

It wasn’t until police arrived that the school even bothered to page Perez over the school’s loudspeakers.

The school’s principal, Joan Antonelli, has been reassigned, the Wall Street Journal adds.

The case is already inviting comparisons to that of 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo, an autistic boy who sparked a citywide search when he vanished from his Queens school last year. He, too, was to have full-time supervision while on school grounds and police were not informed for more than an hour after his disappearance. His body was later found in the East River.

Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, who took the helm of the system this year, promised parents that the matter would be fully investigated.

“Under my watch — I’m going to repeat this again — safety is my first concern. Anyone who doesn’t follow procedures will be judged for that purpose,” Fariña told reporters Wednesday evening. She said there was “no excuse” for the lack of supervision.

Perez was wearing a white bandanna, red blouse, black jeans and red and black sneakers at the time of her disappearance. She is 5’3″ tall and weighs 120lbs.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.

Photo by Robin Michals

With apologies to Francis Scott Key, whose famed “poem” just turned 200 years old. From the photographer:

Stillwell Avenue Station, September 12, 2014

I have walked by this so many times and never noticed how drop dead gorgeous the light is in the early evening.

Love it.

Photo by Robin Michals

Morning Mug is our daily showcase of photographs from our readers. If you have a photograph that you’d like to see featured, send it to [email protected].

Family, friends and police brass pose with the new vessel named for Harry Ryman; inset: Ryman (Source: NYPD)

The fallen officer’s grandson, Mathew Ryman, posing with the vessel (Source: NYPD)

NYPD top brass helped christen two new police response boats, one of which was named in memory of Police Officer Harry Ryman 24 years after he was shot and killed in front of his Marine Park home.

Commissioner Bill Bratton oversaw the event with members of the NYPD leadership team, Inspector David Driscoll, commanding officer of the harbor unit, and family and friends of Ryman to dedicate the vessels. Ryman was honored alongside fallen officer Joseph McCormack, who was shot and killed in 1983.

“Today we gather with the family, friends and colleagues of two NYPD heroes to remember the sacrifice they made,” said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton. “With the dedication of these two Harbor Unit launches we ensure their memories will forever sail on the beautiful waters that surround New York City.”

On August 14, 1980, Ryman was sleeping at his Marine Park home when we awoke to noise in the street. He grabbed his shield and his revolver and went to investigate. Outside he found three men attempting to steal a car. Though off-duty from his post at Coney Island’s 60th Precinct, Ryman jumped to action and identified himself as a police officer. The thugs opened fire, striking him. Even though he was critically wounded, he returned fire and hit one of the assailants, and due to his actions all three suspects were apprended.

Ryman was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He was 43 years old when he died, and a 17-year veteran of the force.

His grandson, P.O. Mathew Ryman, is assigned to the NYPD’s Intelligence Division, and he wears his murdered grandfather’s badge.

The vessels, two 62-foot ships to be used for patrol functions, counter-terrorism and rescue operations, are among the largest boats in the NYPD fleet. In addition to sonar equipment, the ships can detect radiation and also have underwater cameras.

Gnomiki Day Care at 2221 Ocean Avenue, which was closed due to its history of violations. Its sister site at 2623 Ocean Avenue has been recommended for closure as well. (Source: Google Maps)

The operators of nine child care facilities – seven in Brooklyn and two in Staten Island – were charged last Friday with submitting false documents to the city to cover up a slew of health and safety problems, according to Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation Mark Peters, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, and Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, Jr.

At the centers, which served about 400 children, investigators said they found a long list of egregious conditions, including rat droppings, poison, a mountain of trash, and a fire alarm falling off the wall, the Daily News reported. Additionally, the DOI said they discovered owners had submitted fake educational degrees, forged medical records, and falsified letters stating employees had been trained in child abuse identification.

The city recently closed four of the centers:

• Gnomiki Day Care, Inc., 2221 Ocean Avenue, closed due to the site’s violation history, city officials said.
• Next to Home, 1123 Flatbush Avenue, was shuttered due to a city Department of Buildings vacate order issued in response to multiple DOB and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene violations.
• Next to Home, 1159 Flatbush Avenue was closed because investigators said the program had been operating under an expired DOB certificate of occupancy.
• One of a Kind Child Care, 6318 Amboy Road, Staten Island, ended operations after DOHMH petitioned to revoke the permit.

At the remaining five sites:

• Next to Home, 5566 Kings Highway, was “never leased and never provided services to children,” the DOI said
• ABC Little Star, 2345 85th Street, is still operating and city officials said DOHMH inspected it this week, finding no new violations.
• Gnomiki Day Care, Inc., Group Family Day Care, 2623 Ocean Avenue, has been recommended for closure.
• Next to Home, 353 Ocean Avenue, closed after the owner stopped operations, city officials said.
• One of a Kind Child Care, a group family daycare operating at 6306 Amboy Road in Staten Island, is operating, but the owner that was arrested will be excluded from the program, officials said.

The site owners who were arrested were:

• Viktoriya Federovich, 38, of Brooklyn, was the owner of Gnomiki Day Care, Inc. She was charged with presenting fraudulent documents to the city, including two Certificates of Completion for Identification and Reporting of Child Abuse and Maltreatment for an assistant teacher and a volunteer, the DOI said.
• Elena Kaplan, 53, of Brooklyn, was the owner ABC Little Star Day Care, and, according to the DOI’s investigation, she allegedly submitted a number of false documents to the city, including a a fake public school teacher certificate for herself and state Nurses Association Certificates of Completion for various members of the staff confirming they had received training in identifying child abuse, when, in fact, they allegedly had not, the city officials said.
• Owen Larman, 41, of Brooklyn, a convicted felon who was found guilty of operating a $12 million mortgage fraud scheme in 2007 and who was also charged in this case with stealing close to $60,000 in public funds. He was the owner and operator of Next to Home Child Care, which provided services at three locations in the borough. Next to Home also obtained a registration to operate a fourth child care program at 5566 Kings Highway, but the DOI said this site did not actually provide any services.
• Gina Schiavo, 44, of Staten Island, was the owner of One of a King Child Care. According to the DOI, she allegedly introduced an individual to a DOHMH inspector under another teacher’s name and fraudulently provided documents with the name and qualifications of the teacher. When the inspector questioned the individual about her identity, Schiavo allegedly admitted that the individual was using another person’s name.

“These defendants forged and falsified documents in order to cover up safety risks and steal money intended for actual child care, as charged,” Peters said in a prepared statement. “Our investigations underscore the importance of continuing to vigorously police the integrity of the city’s child care systems, an effort that is very much continuing.”

In his statement to the press, Thompson too issued harsh words for the defendants.

“Each day parents throughout the city count on child care providers to protect the safety of their children,” he said. “It is disgraceful that greedy operators would circumvent safety provisions for their own benefit. Our parents and children deserve better and that’s why we worked so closely with the Department of Investigation on these cases.”

Some of the damage in Sea Gate, at the tip of Coney Island, left by Sandy. Photo by Erica Sherman

The following is a message from the offices of Councilman Chaim Deutsch:

As the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approaches, Council Member Chaim Deutsch is reuniting various first responders who were instrumental in assisting thousands of residents during Hurricane Sandy in affected neighborhoods throughout the 48th District.

Council Member Deutsch is organizing an event for his constituents that will offer training under the auspices of Office of Emergency Management (OEM) in crisis intervention, emergency response and disaster preparedness.

Participating in the kick off will be members of United Search & Rescue, Flatbush Shomrim Safety Patrol, Rockaway Safety Patrol, New York Rescue Response Team, East Flatbush Safety Patrol, volunteer establishments and community residents.

Council Member Deutsch is inviting members of the community who are interested in learning more about how to become a first responder for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training to join him. The event takes place on Thursday, September 18th, at 7pm at the Shorefront Y located at 3300 Coney Island Avenue.

For more information please call the Council Member’s District Office at 718-368-9176.

Cops are turning to the public for help in their search for Nashaly Perez, a 15-year-old girl who went missing Monday.

Perez, who lives near West 33rd Street and Mermaid Avenue, was last seen just after 1pm leaving her school, P.S. 371, in Sunset Park.

She was wearing a white bandanna, red blouse, black jeans and red and black sneakers at the time of her disappearance. She is 5’3″ tall and weighs 120lbs.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.