(photo credit: Brian Hedden)

• A pizzeria in Gerritsen Beach is holding a raffle, with the winner receiving free pizza for life. That’s one pizza, every week, for the rest of your natural life. Sweet Jesus, do they deliver to Bensonhurst? (GerritsenBeach.net)
• Sunset Park blog Best View In Brooklyn is signing off after two years. Blogs come, blogs go, but I really loved this one and I’ll miss BViB in my daily reads.
• MarineParker.net has been kicking around for almost a year now, but it has really ramped up its amazing local coverage in the last two months. Like this spot on the future Fortress of Lumbertude next to Kings Plaza. If you aren’t reading it yet, you should start now.
• I’m confused by this piece in an industry rag about the market for retail stores in New York City boroughs not named Manhattan:

Retail Times: You’ve mentioned that some national tenants have been looking in the boroughs. Can you give any names?

Abrams: It’s a lot of discount-oriented, value-priced retailers whose sales are strong in this market and who are looking to expand. I think you have retailers like Target and Kohl’s and Walmart, which has looked in the boroughs in the past. There are a lot of food uses. You have Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s also understanding that there is a huge opportunity in the boroughs. You have a lot of fast food operators—Subway, Checkers, a hamburger fast food chain that has stores nationally.

…

Fishbach: I think with street level retail, you have more opportunities with the local retailers… There are fewer big-box retailers, so you have less of a choice in potential tenants, due to the size of the space and obviously many big box operators are either not expanding or no longer in business.

I’m confused. Are the box stores moving in, or not? That question seems to have generated two contradictory responses. The blog-eye view suggests “are moving in” – an apparent Walgreens is set to move into Sheepshead Bay, while Marine Park will be losing the McGuiness Irish Gift Shop after 20+ years, and Bay Ridge is losing a hairdresser that’s been in place since the Sixties. (MarineParker.net, GerritsenBeach.net, The Luna Park Gazette)

I’m not sure if that’s representative evidnece, or merely coincidental. The people in this interview are acting like they know what they’re talking about when they clearly do not – I don’t want to make the same mistake.

• The City’s Coney Island RFP has attracted over 50 companies interested in making their own pitch for the Rabbit’s Isle. (Daily News)