Panic in Coney Island; Schneiderman Leads Trump Opposition; Machete Attack on Fulton Street and More Brooklyn Briefs

Paul Manafort's Brooklyn neighbor... pic.twitter.com/HnATDTvVe1

— Eric Umansky (@ericuman) April 16, 2017

- False reports of gunshots being fired at Coney Island's amusement park set off a stampede on Sunday, with screaming crowds racing in all directions. [Daily News]

- Fight Back Bay Ridge: With Donovan absent, Brooklyn constituents plan town hall. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Dem AGs, with Eric Schneiderman in the lead, join front lines of Trump opposition. [The Hill]

- Police are asking for the public's help in identifying a man wanted in connection to a machete assault on Fulton Street. [News 12]

- Two thieves break into Midwood synagogue, beat caretaker with broomstick. [Daily News]

- ICYMI: City memo suggests BQX may not be financially feasible after all. [Politico]

- ICYMI: Brooklyn Heights Association's Pier 6 lawsuit to stay in Manhattan. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A 15-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with the murder of a Brooklyn man whose body was found buried in a snowbank last month. [Daily Mail]

- Rep. Dan Donovan has asked the MTA to study the impact of reestablishing a two-way toll on the Verrazano Bridge. [Brooklyn Paper]

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East Flatbush Shooting; 250 lbs. of Magic Mushrooms; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Sunshine Laundromat knows what's up. #Greenpoint #brooklyn pic.twitter.com/bXK8WBTVAd

— Zora O'Neill (@zora) December 19, 2016

Meanwhile, at the Sunshine Laundromat in Greenpoint, Brooklyn...

- A 19-year-old man was fatally shot in the back just down the block from his East Flatbush home Sunday afternoon. [Daily News]

- Some Dyker Heights residents say the Christmas lights and crowds are getting to be a bit much.  [SF Chronicle]

- Video has surfaced of two good Samaritans saving a woman who was being attacked in Midwood Sunday evening. [PIX11]

- Authorities seized more than 250 pounds of psychedelic mushrooms during a raid on two homes in Sheepshead Bay. [NY1]

- BMW’s ReachNow service suspended in Brooklyn shortly after launching. [Geekwire]

- Donald Trump appeared poised to sew up his victory Monday despite opposition groups’ efforts to sway the Electoral College. [WSJ]

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Robot Shop in Williamsburg; Community Gardens to Developers; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- A 15-year-old Brooklyn girl was charged Monday with murdering her mom and her mom’s boyfriend in Sheepshead Bay. [Daily News]

- Two robbers who viciously beat a 60-year-old man in an attack in Midwood last week are under arrest, but police are still looking for the getaway driver. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- New Williamsburg pop-up shop Geek Forest is a one-stop shop for robots. [Fox]

- There's a lot of opposition to the Bushwick 200 project. [Bedford and Bowery]

- At least 9 community gardens in Brooklyn and Manhattan will be turned over to developers. [City Limits]

- You're probably entitled to commuter benefits now that could save you up to $1,000 a year. [Brooklyn Eagle]


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Brooklyn Bridge Blocked in Tamir Rice Protest, and More Brooklyn Briefs

man cooks Xmas eve dinner on traffic island Foster Ave, Kings Hwy. good thing nice weather @NYDailyNews pic.twitter.com/UluMtpCRn3

— Todd Maisel (@ToddMaisel) December 24, 2015

- Angry at the failure to indict a white police officer in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, crowds blocked streets and blocked the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday. [RT]

- Caught on camera: Reward offered in vicious attack on a Midwood man, punched and kicked repeatedly in head. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Cops want your help locating a man wanted for public lewdness on the F train in Brooklyn. [NYPD News]

- Dinner inspired by Moby Dick coming to Carroll Gardens. [DNAinfo]

- From bumper cars to Torah taxidermy: A guide to 25 of Brooklyn's most unusual museums. [Brooklyn Magazine]

- 191 million voter records exposed online. [The Hill]

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Michael Wright's Body Found in Midwood, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Former Knicks draft pick Michael Wright found dead of head wound and covered in garbage bags in SUV in Midwood. Cops investigate theory it was a Grindr hookup gone bad.  [NY Daily News]

- Sad photo: Reward offered after abused dog found in East Flatbush parking lot. [ABC7]

- City students are skipping class once every 10 days. [NY Post]


- Carroll Gardens' Black Mountain Wine House on Forbes' top 10 cozy bar list. [Forbes]

- When the flashing red hand appears on crosswalk signs, pedestrians lose the right of way. Public Advocate Letitia James wants to change that. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Brooklyn man runs in charity race for Sandy Hook victim so he can question her family about truther theory. [NY Magazine]

- Someone from Vice had dinner with the Cast of 'The Bedford Stop,' the "most hated girls in Brooklyn." [Vice]

- Defend Brooklyn in this new Revolutionary War iOS game. [Technical.ly]

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100-Story Building in D'town Brooklyn; Ferry Meeting Tonight; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Eclipse over Brooklyn Sunday night. Photo: MK Metz

 - A developer has unveiled views from potential Brooklyn super tower more than 100 stories high in Downtown Brooklyn. [The Real Deal]

- A man was fatally struck by a train in Sunset Park on Sunday morning. [NY Post]

- Brooklyn Borough Hall meeting Monday on expanded ferry service. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- An 87-year-old woman in Midwood is trying to prove to the city that she is still alive. [abc7ny]

- A woman gave birth to a baby boy on a Brooklyn Heights sidewalk Sunday evening. [Daily News]

- A Brooklyn man has been accused of calling a video hotline for deaf people over 4,000 times for the purpose of masturbating. [Gothamist]

- Garbage workers found human remains in a discarded couch near the Belt Parkway. [Gothamist]

- Yes, Brooklyn, your sports-playing kids are billboards for sale. [Forbes]

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Brooklyn PTA President Steals $14K; Brooklyn's Lost Trolley Glory; and More Brooklyn Briefs

[TW] Copwatchers are looking for info on this anonymous video of NYPD tasering a man in the back. Please share. https://t.co/Lg65BgS9tv

— Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) June 9, 2015

- Bratton: Recruiting black cops is hard because so many have criminal histories. [Time]

- Brooklyn PTA president busted for stealing $14,000 from school account. [Daily News]

- Photos: BP Eric Adams congratulates the refined members of the 75-year-old Brooklyn Heights Garden Club, as they announce their window box contest winners. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- 1930s trolley map shows how cleanly and efficiently connected Brooklyn used to be, but is no more. [Gothamist]

- Brooklyn Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte came under intense criticism from a segment of the Jewish community after she voiced her fierce opposition for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed education tax credit. [Haitian Times]

- Brooklyn-born rapper Pumpkinhead, an underground hip-hop king, died Tuesday morning in NJ at 39. He attended Park Slope’s PS 282. [Daily News]

- A 31-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the shooting that killed a 29-year-old Russian Jewish man in the Midwood section of Brooklyn three months ago. [JP Updates]

- Photos: A Brooklynite's pilgrimage to the top of the World Trade Center. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Gotham Gazette sums up the main issues on the agenda in the NYS legislature's last 7 days. These include the 421-A tax break for developers, and Mayoral control of public schools. 


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Chaos Breaks Out On Q Train in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn Thursday Night

From the scanner:

All hell broke loose in a car on the Q line in Brooklyn around 9 p.m. Thursday night.

The first caller to 9-1-1 was a third party, the dispatcher told cops. The caller said that "20 male blacks" were assaulting passengers in a car on the train, which was stopped at the platform at the Kings Highway stop between East 15th and East 16th Streets (Midwood /Sheepshead Bay).

 The cops taking the call asked, "How many?"

Dispatcher: "The third party says 20."

Shortly thereafter, a call came in to 9-1-1 from the train conductor.

He confirmed 20 males blacks had stormed car 9047 and were "assaulting the customers."

Cops were heading to the scene when another call came in saying the gang had left the Q train and were now headed for the B train.

 That's all we heard; will fill you in if there's an update.

(On top of that, the Q train was rated the dirtiest train in NYC.)



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8 in Brooklyn Crash; LICH Closure Plan; Missing Teen; and More Brooklyn Briefs

News 12 was mistaken in their hospital story. See below. Google.

- 8 hospitalized after crash on Fourth Avenue at Belt Parkway . . . ambulance had to go to the Bronx?  [News 12]
UPDATE: News 12 has the story wrong. According to FDNY, the victims were taken to Lutheran, not Lincoln. 

- Two shot, one stabbed in East New York. [7 online]

- Cops shot and killed a man inside a Prospect-Lefferts Gardens apartment on Sunday. [NY Daily News]

- SUNY finally gets around to releasing its closure plan for Long Island College Hospital. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A search is underway for a missing Brooklyn Tech student. [7 online]

- Police are searching for a missing autistic teen last seen Friday at a Sheepshead Bay train station. [WSJ]

-  Window concert today in Brooklyn Heights. [BHB]

- 102-year-old pool shark. [NY Daily News]

- Sophie live at Grasslands. Finally, pictures. [Noisey.Vice]

- Assemblywoman Jacobs to retire after 36 years. [JP Updates]

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Did You Know You Can Stand Your Car at a Fire Hydrant During the Day but Not at Night?

Photo: David Boyle

In the legal weirdness category: Currently, drivers in New York City are allowed to temporarily stand at fire hydrants during daylight hours, but not at night.

Councilman David G. Greenfield (44th council district: Bensonhurst, Boro Park, and Midwood) says in an email that he heard from irate constituents who received tickets after dropping off passengers near fire hydrants at night.

So yesterday he introduced what he calls "common sense legislation" in the City Council that would allow motorists to temporarily stop at fire hydrants at all times as long "as they are ready to immediately move their vehicle in the case of an emergency."

“Allowing drivers to temporarily stop at fire hydrants to pick up and drop off passengers will reduce emissions from vehicles circling the block, free up other parking spaces and reduce double parking, which often brings our commercial strips to a standstill," he said.

Earlier this year, the City Council passed Greenfield’s legislation ending the city’s use of neon stickers (remember them?) to punish drivers violating alternate-side parking laws, and he says he played an instrumental role in passing legislation to give drivers a five-minute grace period when paying for parking at a nearby Muni-Meter.

Greenfield also supported a law allowing the use of Muni-Meter receipts on different blocks than where the receipt was issued. All of these bills were passed unanimously by the City Council over the objection of Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

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Brooklyn Tea Party President Running for Assembly as Opponent of Same-Sex Marriage

The Brooklyn Young Republican Club wants members to help put Brooklyn Tea Party President Joseph Hayon on the ballot for the "School Choice Party." He is running for New York State Assembly in the 41st Assembly District (Sheesphead Bay, Gravesend, Manhattan Beach, Midwood and Brighton Beach) on the Republican, Conservative, and Independence Party lines.

Hayon's opponent is Helene Weinstein, who has served in the Assembly for more then 30 years.

Hayon, an Orthodox Jew, is a vehement opponent of same-sex marriage and a strong proponent of giving public funds to religious schools.

He charges that Weinstein "voted to force public schools to teach gay marriage to children even though most parents oppose such instruction." [NOTE: This is a mischaracterization of the bill, which aims to prevent harassment of students. Sheepshead Bites points out that Hayon has misconstrued this bill in a previous campaign.]

"This is not just an issue for the religious community," Hayon said. "This is an issue of our free speech rights. Teachers will be fired, students will be expelled, and parents will lose their ability to raise their children the way they see fit, just for expressing their support for traditional marriage. If we cannot express our support for marriage today, we may not be able to express our support for democracy in the future."

So there you go.

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Booze at Jay-Z's Somewhat Curtailed; Brooklyn Lit; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Full bottle service won't be allowed at Jay-Z's 40/40 Club at Barclay's -- but bottles of wine and champagne will be available by the bottle and hard liquor by the shot -- till 2 a.m. Metro

- Brooklyn has become a kind of "vertically integrated factory for literature." Economist

- 11-year-old boy hit by Verizon truck and seriously injured in Midwood. DNAinfo

- Charges against four men from Crown Heights, indicted last year on charges of raping and  prostituting a woman for nearly a decade, will be dropped. NY Times

- Dekalb Market: the landlord is forcing the market out this fall so that it can build a permanent housing and retail development on the site. Eater

- Because the percentage of low-income families at P.S. 9 has dipped to 59.1, just below the 60 percent cut-off, it is losing $360,000 in federal funding. Brownstoner

- KKK racist David Duke endorses Barron for Congress. Brooklyn Eagle

- CB2 meeting: Developers want reduced parking requirements to apply not only to new buildings, as proposed, but also to existing buildings. Streetsblog

- Why we should hate the NY Times Fashion section. Gawker

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Light Bulb Eating Magician Arrested for Brooklyn Bank Robberies

Magician and light bulb eater Robert J. Williams was arrested on Wednesday and charged with committing a string of Brooklyn bank robberies, the New York Times reports.

 Mr. Williams was in the process of writing a demand note on the back of a deposit slip at Apple Bank in Midwood when a teller recognized him from the last time he robbed the bank.

Police told the Times that beyond the six robberies for which Mr. Williams was charged, they suspect he robbed five other banks, including two in Manhattan

Williams (above left) was filmed for Zedalza New York chewing and swallowing a light bulb. His record for this activity is 33.86 seconds. (recordsetter.com).

Williams was aptly described by the New York Post as "A light bulb-scarfing wannabe circus freak."

UPDATE: There's a Quick Meme already!

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Domino Developer Loses Battle; Ratner's Modular Factory; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- The developer of the proposed $1.5 billion Domino Sugar Factory project loses court battle, handing the majority stake to the project’s senior lender. Observer

- United American Land has closed on the 50,000 square-foot commercial condominium at 210 Joralemon Street, commonly known as the Brooklyn Municipal Building, for $10 million. TRD

- Water Street Restaurant in DUMBO closed by Department of Health, in spite of getting an A on a recent inspection. Dumbo, NYC

- Caribbean girls discover Jewish neighbors in Crown Heights are really OK. Brooklyn Eagle

- MTA bringing big upgrades to Jay Street substation. Brownstoner

- Ratner wants to construct a modular building factory at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to go into the cheap skyscraper business. Globe Street

- Midwood High School's class of 1957 returns for their 55th reunion -- and puts on a new production of a play they first created over half a century ago. Brooklyn Eagle

- AG Eric Schneiderman is seeking $1.4 million from a Williamsburg developer who built a project that is allegedly “rife with construction defects,” including leaks, faulty windows and the use of flammable material on the roof. TRD

- Here's a map of all the abandoned bikes in New York City. Probably missed a couple. Transportation Nation

- Newtown Creek safe for kayaking, dangerous for swimming, iffy for seafood. Brooklyn Paper

- The biggest full moon of the year happens this Saturday at 11:35 p.m. EDT. Gothamist


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Brooklyn Ramen Event! Gowanus Cleanup Meeting; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- CB6 meeting tonight (Wednesday) about the EPA's Superfund Site investigation and sewer overflows into the Gowanus Canal. Carroll Gardens Patch

- Brooklyn state Sen. Eric Adams wants transit workers to be armed with Tasers. NY Daily News

- The city will open 54 new schools next September -- but wants to close another 23 this year, bringing the total closed this year to 49. Brooklyn Eagle

- Hot ramen pop-up Yuji and Japanese restaurant Chuko will team up for the Brooklyn Ramen Event. Eater

- The MTA has ordered 328 more buses equipped with three doors. Not as popular as you would think. NY Magazine

- Guys on trial in Brooklyn came disturbingly close to bombing innocent subway riders in Manhattan. Brooklyn Eagle

- History of a Brooklyn character and the church community that he founded here in Brownstone Brooklyn. Brownstoner

- The deadline for registering for this year's Dumbo / Vinegar Hill CSA is April 28. DumboNYC

- The same vandal(s) who defaced the Avenue Z Jewish Center in Brooklyn before may have struck again. Forward

- Every New Yorker has wondered how television characters can afford their spacious homes. And now Barbara Corcoran explains it all. TRD

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Sucking Wyckoff Hospital Dry; Brooklyn's Priciest Block; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- The people running Wyckoff Hospital in Bushwick -- ranked one of the worst in the city -- are sucking it dry at our expense. NY Times

- Lead found in Red Hook ball fields. Brooklyn Eagle

- Brooklyn's priciest block is in -- Midwood. TRD

- Sarah Jessica Parker and husband Matthew Broderick are buying adjacent townhouses in Brooklyn Heights, which they will combine to make an "urban mansion." NY Daily News

- Someone abandoned a baby and supplies in an apartment building foyer in Sunset Park. CBS

- Brad Lander steps up pressure on NYPD probes of traffic deaths. Brooklyn Eagle

- A proposal would reduce or in some cases eliminate the number of parking spaces required in residential developments in Downtown Brooklyn. TRD

- Rick Santorum's spooky "Obamaville" political ad looks and feels like a trailer for a horror film. Gawker


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Oy! Midwood 'Hate Crime' Probably Insurance Scam

They thought they were marching to protest a hate crime.

After vandals torched cars and scribbled Nazi swastikas in an Orthodox Jewish part of Midwood back in November, residents and representatives from all over the city marched to protest bias and hate. Even members of Occupy Wall Street showed up for the lovefest.

It was touching, really, how many supporters from so many religions and races showed up on a Sunday morning: there was Council Member Jumaane Williams, Council Members Brad Lander, Tish James and Steve Levin, Assemblymen Dov Hikind and Bill Colton, State Senator Eric Adams, mayoral candidates Scott Stringer and Bill Thompson, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel and others.

Time to get back to the cynicism, folks! The "hate" firebombing was probably an insurance scam, the Daily News reports. As for those 27 Corona beer bottles found at the scene? They appear to have been wiped clean of fingerprints, suggesting the work of someone meticulous, not someone lashing out in hate, a source told the News.

UPDATE: For real hate crimes, a reader has sent in these suggested resources:

http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/hate-crimes-law/
http://www.injuryclaimcoach.com/hate-crimes-injury-guide.html
http://sydney.edu.au/law/criminology//ahcn/what_is_hatecrime.shtml

Photo from video by Gifterphotos

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March On Ocean Parkway to Protest Anti-Semetic Vandalism

After vandals torched cars and scribbled Nazi swastikas in an Orthodox Jewish part of Midwood on Friday, residents  and representatives from all over the city marched to protest bias and hate.

Members of Occupy Wall Street also showed up to march after being weirdly accused of somehow being involved in the bigotry.

On Ocean Parkway, three cars had been set on fire. The letters "KKK" were spray-painted on a van and anti-Semitic messages were written on a sidewalk.

"I'm here today because hate doesn't have neat boundaries. If they come for one person today they'll come for somebody else tomorrow," said Council Member Jumaane Williams.

Other marchers included Council Members Brad Lander, Tish James and Steve Levin, Assemblymen Dov Hikind and Bill Colton, State Senator Eric Adams, mayoral candidates Scott Stringer and Bill Thompson, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel and other community leaders. Mayor Bloomberg was a no-show.

Commenters at the Daily News were outraged themselves -- that the marchers carried only the Israeli flag: "This is not Israeli, it's the US and when you fly any foreign flag it is to be along with the US flag with our flag held higher," commenters pointed out.

Weirdness in Williamsburg

Also in Brooklyn on Sunday, politicians held a press conference to condemn the mugging of a Jewish man on Friday in Williamsburg. According to the NY Daily News, during the press conference, a Jewish vigilante group joined the crowd and started screaming, “Get lost!"

“They are not going to help us. They are only out here for the votes,” said Rabbi Nauchem Rosenberg, before other Hasidic men threatened to hit him if he didn’t stop shouting.

This video of the march was uploaded by Gifterphotos yesterday.

Thanks to the Brooklyn Politics Blog for the link to this video.

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'Treme' in Carroll Gardens, Top Condo Sales, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation gave its support for St. Ann's to develop the Tobacco Warehouse.  Brooklyn Eagle

- HBO's "Treme" filming in Carroll Gardens on Sunday.  PMFA

- Complicated chart shows who owns a mortgage.  Huff Post

- Tree branch falls, critically injuring woman in Midwood.  Gothamist

- Four developments in Brooklyn have top condo sales in the city. Brooklyn Eagle

- Henry Kissinger's bird is dead.  Brooklyn Paper  

- It's now legal to tour the city's prettiest subway station. Jalopnik via  Observer 

- SEC settles lawsuits  with Rattner (NOTE: Not Atlantic Yards Ratner) in connection with the New York state pension fund. Rattner will pay $6.2 million and accept a two-year ban.  Bloomberg

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Update: Power Outages All Over Brooklyn

This is the 1 a.m. update: Multiple power outages are spreading across Brooklyn and Queens, according to Con Edison. The above map, current as of 1 a.m. Wednesday, shows power failures especially afflicting South Brooklyn, along with Boerum Hill, Bushwick and parts of Queens.

Earlier, Con Ed said that the affected neighborhoods cover an area bounded by Avenue H on the north, Shore Parkway and Gravesend Neck Road on the south, 19th and 20th Avenues on the west, and East 15th and 16th Streets on the east. Included are parts of Bensonhurst and the neighborhoods of Midwood, Gravesend, Ocean Parkway and Sheepshead Bay.

Crews are working now to repair the problems in these areas. Con Edison has asked customers in the affected areas to refrain from using washers and dryers, dishwashers, and to turn off any non-essential appliances to help reduce electricity usage until equipment problems can be resolved.

(Sheepshead Bites talks about this topic as well.)

Photo by MK Metz