BK Southie » 2010

Dumb and dumber

Posted by Nick at 10:35 am Brighton Beach, Featured story, Sheepshead Bay

Dec 302010

Mayor Bloomberg cleaned up Manhattan but left Brooklyn under the snow for days. Brighton Beach has abandoned cars, trucks, buses left in the street.
Parts of Brighton Beach Ave have no cleared sidewalks, people are dangerously walking in the traffic of an unplowed street, Ned Berke of Sheepshead Bites says Sheepshead Bay is no better off.. take a look
http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2010/12/go-to-hell-mayor-bloomberg-this-is-why-were-angry/
Also, the MTA had shutdowns of the subway lines Q N D for portions of last 3 days. Jay Walder and MTA raised fares today anyway.

Robert Segarra says Park Slope is not much better also with a stuck and abandoned bus.

In the aftermath of the recent storm, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz has received hundreds of calls and emails from constituents frustrated by their attempts to contact 311 and air their concerns. All complaints have been forwarded to the New York City Department of Sanitation. Brooklynites may continue to voice their concerns regarding snow removal by contacting the BP’s office at 718-802-3777 or askmarty@brooklynbp.nyc.gov

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Posted by Brian Hedden at 6:00 am Random Chatter

Dec 242010

Dear Readers:

Merry Christmas.

You see, while you may think Christmas is tomorrow, it is actually today to me. This is the day my son will be waking me up about an hour before sunrise – and three hours before I’ll genuinely be awake in any true sense of the word – to open presents (I hope the deli across the street has a fresh pot of coffee ready for me). This is the day of playing video games and Nerf gun battles all day long. This is the day of the home-cooked family dinner and playing Christmas songs from the Hyundai Hipsters.

Tomorrow is the day of Netflix and Chinese takeout.

If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have an excellent Christmas. And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, then I hope you have a really excellent Saturday. Happy Saturday!

Also: you’re awesome. I’ve said that before, but it bears repeating. You’re great people, plus you clearly have excellent taste in hyper-local web sites. You really are the ones that make this fun for me. On that, I think I can also speak for Nick, Stephanie, Joanna, and Arturo, who have made some excellent contributions to this site over the past year. Actually, those four have also made this fun for me. They’ve helped make this site better than I could ever do on my own. Thanks to you four. You’re awesome, too.

We’re all taking the week off from blogging here, so Happy New Year, too! Have some fun next week. Go to a cool NYE party or something. And be sure to come back here on Monday, January 3, because 2011 is going to be a great year for all of us.

Polar Bear swim set for January 1 at 1pm, Ruby’s expected to be open

Posted by Brian Hedden at 8:00 am Coney Island, Events

Dec 232010

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club will take their annual New Year’s swim a little over a week from now, on Saturday, January 1, at 1pm. A little dip in the frozen pool sounds like a great way to manage that NYE hangover!

If you go, be sure to check out Ruby’s Bar & Grill, one of nine Boardwalk establishments to be served with eviction notices at the end of October. Despite the uninvitation from their landlord, Ruby’s plans to open for business at 10:30am.

Also, while you’re there, take a gander at the Shore Theater, the city’s newest landmark. And one of the few buildings in Coney Island that apparently won’t be torn down.

Holiday Lights: Gravesend

Posted by Brian Hedden at 7:00 am Gravesend, Holiday Lights

Dec 232010

Lady Moody Square on Avenue U in Gravesend.

Brooklyn Paper: Bensonhurst Has Chinese People

Posted by Arturo Tedesco at 10:33 am Bensonhurst, Kvetch

Dec 222010

In a shocking turn of events the Brooklyn Paper has admitted that there have been changes in Bensonhurst since the 1950′s after all. The new article cites statistics published in the 2010 Census. The publication has apparently given up on its previous sources; namely reruns of the Honeymooners and sequel to Saturday Night Fever ‘Staying Alive’ (It was on FX).

BK Southie’s Brian Hedden first brought this to readers attention on December 1. Why? To shed some light on the wilds of South Brooklyn for the hardworking interns reporters of a Newscorp cookie cutter franchise Brooklyn community newspaper. Because here at BK Southie we don’t look down on you, even if you do ride the short bus. You’re welcome, Brooklyn Paper.

Drop-in center for at-risk Jewish teens in danger of closing

Posted by Brian Hedden at 7:00 am General News, Midwood

Dec 222010

Our Place, an Avenue M center for at-risk Jewish teens, is in jeopardy of shutting it’s doors due to drastically reduced funding and mounting debt, as reported by The Jewish Week.

Now 17, he came to Brooklyn seven months ago from the Midwest, where he was failing at school and fighting at home. Here, he says, he lived with a member of his family, but was still lost, “chilling on the streets, doing drugs.”

That changed a few months ago, Motti (not his real name) says, when “a friend,” someone he’d hang out with wasting time, told him about Our Place, a drop-in center for teens, many from Orthodox backgrounds.

He came one night, one of the more than 5,000 troubled teens helped by the center in the last dozen years. And he kept coming back.

The 12-year-old Our Place, like many non-profits, is facing a serious budget crunch brought on by the Great Recession and the resulting elimination of government funding and cutback in philanthropic support. It has run up $250,000 in debt, and the center’s supporters are scrambling to raise the funds needed to keep the center open.

According to the director, Chaim Glancz, a minimum budget of $400,000 annual needs to be in place by January. Three years ago, before the onset of the recession, the budget was $1.2 million.

Now, Glancz says, Our Place is on life support, depending not on the kindness of strangers but on the chesed of people who believe in its mission. No one’s been paid since July, not vendors (they bring the kosher meals that keep a refrigerator stocked and provide nightly free meals for the kids) or the seven professional therapists on staff (they’re supplemented by a score of volunteers, mostly businessmen from the Orthodox community) or the landlord (“He hasn’t asked for the rent.”)

Firefighter Turns Himself In, Faces Charges In Deadly Bensonhurst Hit-and-Run

Posted by Arturo Tedesco at 1:10 pm Bensonhurst, Featured story, Police & Fire

Dec 212010

A man accused of being the driver in a fatal hit and run has turned himself in. The incident occurred just after midnight on October 10 at the intersection of 65th Street and 20th Avenue. The victim Manuel Tzajguachiac, who was 25 years old, had traveled to the United States from Guatemala six months earlier to earn money for his wife and son back home. According to the New York Post Firefighter Pat Quagliariello, who is the older brother of a NYPD detective, turned himself in to authorities this morning.

Gravestones vandalized at Washington Cemetery

Posted by Brian Hedden at 8:00 am Borough Park, Police & Fire

Dec 212010

Vandalism story from Sheepshead Bites:

Nearly 200 gravestones were smashed or knocked over at Washington Cemetery on Bay Parkway over the weekend, including some belonging to Holocaust survivors.

They mayhem occurred Saturday night, officials believe, since Washington Cemetery is usually closed for the sabbath.

Not sure right now if Washington Cemetery was targeted because it was a Jewish cemetery, or because they were ordinary grave vandals. Either way, they suck, and I hate them.

Holiday Lights: Bensonhurst

Posted by Brian Hedden at 7:00 am Bensonhurst, Holiday Lights

Dec 212010

I’ve found myself being drawn this year to the houses that have elaborate window displays. They make a nice complement to exterior lights and decorations.

What do you want for Christmas?

Posted by Nick at 9:14 am Random Chatter

Dec 202010

Tell St. Nick what you want for Christmas or want you someone else to get.
Add to the list

President Obama – an accomplisment
Eliot Shitzer – Charlie Sheen’s black book
David Paterson – a spine
Mike Bloomberg – a clue
Jay Walder – a toupee with brains in it
Dave Gold – a recount (and Charlie Sheen’s book)
Pedro Espada – a cute cellmate
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov – a team that doesnt suck when it gets to Brooklyn
People of Queens – a team that doesnt suck
The people of South Brooklyn – Less government corruption, better/cheaper MTA, less taxes
Bronx cheer Andy – 5 min shopping spree to KurmaSutra in Sheepheads
Disco Dan – more open bars