Some of Amity’s champions, posing with their sensei. (Source: Brooklyn Amity School)

They’ve done it again!

Students from the after-school karate program at Brooklyn Amity School (3867 Shore Parkway) traversed the nation to compete in America’s largest karate championship, and returned with 21 medals – nearly double the amount they brought home last year.

The team racked up eight gold medals, four silver and nine bronze at the 2013 USA National Karate Championships and U.S. Team Trials, held in Greenville, South Carolina from July 10 to July 14. It’s the biggest organized championship in the country, with more than 1,200 competitors from more than 40 states competing.

“The number of medals earned in this national championship is two times more in comparison to total medals that were earned in the last year’s national championship. As a very young karate school, the success is extraordinary and huge,” said the students’ teacher, Sensei Meral Olmez, a two-time world champion. “I developed a very demanding program and literally pushed athletes throughout the whole duration of the one month-long training camp, which was in addition to the training that they got throughout the year.”

Last year was the first time the school competed at the tournament, and they racked up an impressive 13 medals.

The students are beaming with pride over their victory, but acknowledged the hard work it took to get there.

“It was tough but at the end it all paid off because we won medals … It was very nerve wrecking but [during the competition] you have to keep your composure and act as if you perform everything great and show the judges that you won. You have to concentrate on what you have to accomplish,” said Farzana Ruzehaji, a senior at Brooklyn Amity School who earned two gold medals this year. “When you walk in and you see this giant arena filled with people and they are all looking at you. It feels like you are a celebrity.”

Keep reading for more photos and a list of the winning students.

Legend has it that when Robert Moses designed the Belt Parkway, he made the overpasses low in order to ensure buses couldn’t travel on it, so that the lower-class masses, dependent on mass transit, couldn’t access the fancy-shmancy beaches of Long Island. And while it seems to have been successful in keeping buses off,  it appears truck drivers never got the memo.

Of course, as residents we all know commercial vehicles are not permitted on the Belt Parkway. But when ill-informed truck drivers try to skirt the rules, it turns into a spectacular failure. Last time we reported on one, in June 2012, it turned into a multi-agency removal effort, and caused an SUV to be crushed in the impact. Almost exactly two years before that, in June 2010, another tractor-trailer tried sneaking on in the middle of the night, and ended up turning the area around the B/Q overpass at East 14th Street into a wasteland of debris.

There must be something about June, because it happened again last night. At around 9:20 p.m., an 18-wheeler illegally traveling eastbound on the Belt Parkway again slammed into the B/Q overpass, snarling traffic for hours.

Making matters worse, as it was being removed by the Queens-based Runway Towing Corporation, the truck was dragged along and then – wham! – right into the Knapp Street, Exit 9 sign, destroying that as well.

Sheepshead Bay’s subway and pedestrian overpasses outside the Belt Parkway are also no strangers to the occasional daring truck driver trying to squeeze through – and failing. For just a few examples, see here, here, here, here and here.

For this one, readers Butch Moran and Ed Ioffe happened to be on-hand to catch some photos of the damaged truck.

Check out the photos after the jump.

Source: NYDailyNews.com

An early morning accident on Saturday left a woman dead after an allegedly drunk driver mowed her down before colliding with a tree.

Daily News reports:

Police said 25-year-old Steven Calandrillo was driving a Ford Fusion along Shore Parkway near Bragg St. in Sheepshead Bay just after 2 a.m. when the car veered onto the sidewalk — mowing down [53-year-old] Karin Eberts-Ayub. The car then hit a tree, officials said. The Stillwell Ave. woman died at the scene.

Paramedics found Calandrillo, a resident of Gravesend, unconscious behind the wheel and rushed him to Lutheran Medical Center for treatment.

Eberts-Ayub was fondly remembered by those who knew her as an enthusiastic painter and chef, who cooked extra turkey on Thanksgiving to give to neighbors.

Calandrillo was charged Saturday night with drunken driving, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

Source: NYPD via Daily News

The NYPD released surveillance camera photos of an alleged rapist they have been hunting since September, according to a report by the New York Daily News.

The alleged sleazeball is described as a 5’8 muscular man with a shaved bald head. He spoke with a Russian accent.

According to the NYPD, he lured a woman to Bensonhurst’s Harbor Motor Inn (1730 Shore Parkway) on September 2, 2012, with the promise of a job interview. After paying for the room, he attacked and raped the victim, a 39-year-old woman.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is urged to contact Crime Stoppers. All callers to Crime Stoppers remain anonymous. Crime Stoppers can be reached at 1-800-577-TIPS, via the website, or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.

A high-powered spotlight used to illuminate Coney Island Hospital’s (2601 Ocean Parkway) construction work appears to be irking neighbors, and possibly blinding drivers.

Here’s what tipster Ed L. wrote to us:

There is a lack of concern for the neighbors and community as well as the safety of cars that come around the corner of Shore Parkway and East 6th St.  The construction crew aim the lights in the direction of Shore Pkwy and East 6th St blinding drivers as they turn the corner as well as blinding the community. I have asked for the lights to be aimed at the hospital not into the windows and streets of the community. They just don’t care.

Well, we doubt the folks there don’t care. The hospital shuttered during Sandy, and has only partially reopened as they make repairs. With thousands in the community depending on them as a 911 intake facility and provider of other critical health services, we know the team is  laboring to bring the community hospital back on line as soon as possible. But that’s no excuse for making a dangerous situation for drivers and neighbors.

Sheepshead Bites has contacted the hospital’s administration and is awaiting a response.

Infinite Auto Leasing has been a part of Sheepshead Bay for 13 years and isn’t going to let a little water keep them down!

With many local businesses still struggling to get back on their feet, our friends at Infinite Auto Leasing are working hard to meet all your auto leasing needs as they rebuild. While their offices at 3371 Shore Parkway were destroyed in the storm, they’re working from home and keeping their customers happy.

Infinite is delivering both new and replacement cars. If your car was damaged in the storm, Infinite is helping with insurance claims and towing. They can help you fight the paperwork and get you a replacement car, truck or van quickly and easily. You need not be a current customer; Infinite will work with you to get you a car.

Call Alex directly at (718) 415-8641 or (917) 642-1112. You can also email him at alexinfinite2000 (at ) gmail (dot) com or check out their website at www.infiniteleasing.com.

Please support our local businesses through this storm!

Sheepshead Bay has just been hit with its first major outage, affecting 1,050 customers according to the Con Edison power outage map. They are citing a 6:00 p.m. restoration time.

This may just be confined to one building. Reader Jeffrey W. e-mailed us to say power is out at a large co-op building at 2719 East 28th Street between Voorhies Avenue and Shore Parkway, which is roughly where the Con Ed map has the outage centered.

FDNY responders work to free the driver from the cabin.

Lucky to be alive.

Two men and a little dog are lucky to have survived a major collision yesterday afternoon that left one of the vehicles flipped in the road and the driver trapped inside.

The accident happened just minutes after 3:30 p.m., when, according to witnesses, a yellow car ran a red light while heading north on Ocean Avenue at Shore Parkway. A van barreling west on Shore Parkway couldn’t stop in time, collided with the front of the yellow car, then flipped over on its side with a thunderous crash.

As the van came to a rest, a terrified and stunned puppy stumbled out of the back door of the van. It began to take off but, after a moment’s hesitation, was scooped up by a bystander. The dog escaped the accident unscathed.

Meanwhile, the driver of the yellow car ran from his vehicle to assist the driver of the van. Neither had passengers, but the van’s driver was stuck in the vehicle’s cabin. He tried to escape through the passenger side window until a volunteer EMT who had been up Ocean Avenue came running and told him to stay still.

It was barely minutes after the accident that FDNY turned up. They freed the van driver and examined both men involved in the accident, put them in neck braces and brought them to the hospital for minor injuries.

The heroic bystander who saved the puppy stayed at the scene until the van driver’s wife came to retrieve Fido.

The road was cleared by 4:30 p.m.

View video of the man being pulled from the van, and more photos from the accident.

Bettie Page, who the Klaws brought to mainstream audiences. (Source: http://lornagrl.blogs.com)

Sure, it’s pretty darn easy to find a sexy photo of your favorite celebrity these days. You just go online, type their name in Google, and start scrolling through the image results. But there was a time when it was much more difficult. Once upon a time, you had to purchase entire magazines just to obtain pictures of your favorite actors. Oh, the horror!

In between magazines and the internet, though, there was a third option – pinup photos of famous gals, all scantily clad.

And it just so happens to be that Irving and Paula Klaw, the inventors of pinup art, discoverers of Bettie Page, and owners of the renowned Movie Star News in Manhattan, were residents of Sheepshead Bay.

Continue Reading »

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.