Four Indicted for Kidnapping 13-Year-Olds; Brooklyn Is Totally Unaffordable; and More Briefs

- Four people have been named in a 32-count indictment in connection with the 2014 kidnapping of two 13-year-old girls in Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Groups from oppressive countries and authoritarian regimes are among the candidates looking to acquire the Brooklyn Nets from a Russian oligarch.  [Sports Illustrated]

- Emotions ran high at a town hall meeting on illegal home conversions, a growing crisis in Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Bay Ridge. [Bensonhurst Bean]

- This map shows you how unaffordable it is to live in NYC. Brooklyn is the worst, of course. [Curbed]

- Pacific Park/Atlantic Yards’ first condo building, 550 Vanderbilt Avenue, will launch sales this summer. Prices will start roughly in the range of $550,000 and go all the way up to around $5,500,000. [Brownstoner]

- Boerum Hill resident Ethan Hawke’s movie “Maggie’s Plan” will be shooting on Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights tomorrow and Wednesday, screwing up parking as usual. [BHB]

 - Friggin' inspirational Brooklyn guy. [WYDNKBYANM]

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Brooklyn's Cherry King Kills Self After Secret Drug Op Discoveered in Basement; and More Brooklyn News

- Drug  operation was in the basement: Owner of family-run Maraschino cherry company in Red Hook kills himself when police come asking questions. Dell's, in bussiness 67 years, is one of the largest processors of maraschino cherries in the country. [CBS] and [Daily News]

- VIDEO: Two arrested in Bath Beach after wild Verrazano Bridge chase. [Bensonhurst Bean] 

- De Blasio ends informed consent requirement for dangerous Orthodox circumcision ritual. [Failed Messiah]

- Lawyer integral in LICH case opens new firm. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Candidates vying for Michael Grimm's seat hit the campaign trail. [NY1]

- Overcrowding on NYC subways reaches all time high, makes you terribly late. [Brokelyn]

- Right-wingers not happy with Stringer's push for language help in court for immigrants. [Comments at Brooklyn Eagle]

- Cops find photos of naked toddler on Brooklyn man's phone, charged with child pornography. [Daily News]

- 104 in the shade: Soccer’s governing body should reschedule the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to avoid the stifling heat in the Gulf State during the summer months. [WSJ]


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What Is It with the Rubins? Plus, New Heights School, Maybe... and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Plans for a possible Ace Hotel in Downtown Brooklyn hit a snag, as CB2 voted against the development. [Curbed]

- San Francisco’s ALT School coming to Brooklyn Heights. [BHB]

- 14 Satmar Hasidim defendants have been with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud in connection with mortgages secured by properties in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Monroe. Many have the last name Rubin: YEHUDA RUBIN, IRVING RUBIN, DESIREE RUBIN, ABRAHAM RUBIN, JACOB RUBIN, SAMUEL RUBIN, JOEL RUBIN, RIVKY RUBIN, RACHEL RUBIN, RIFKA RUBIN, and a few non-Rubins. [Failed Messiah]

- Brooklyn’s most expensive house is now half-priced. [Brokelyn]

- Brooklyn DA targets lethal gang after 11-year-old paralyzed in shooting. 25 in custody so far. [Daily News]

- Two cabs crashed into each other in Bath Beach, causing quite a commotion. [Bensenhurst Bean]


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Quinn Doesn't Like Attack Ads; Priest Blasts Post; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Brooklyn ranks as the second most expensive place to live in the U.S. [Yahoo Finance]

- Quinn tries to strong-arm cable companies to take attack ads off the air. [NY Magazine]

- Bath Beach priest used Twitter to blast the FDNY’s ticket-writing inspectors, says the Post. One problem: The priest says a the Post's story is "propaganda." [Bensonhurst Bean]

- Pundits: Brooklyn BP Markowitz must lose some weight but can keep his accent if he wants to move to TV. Oh, and the hair. [NY Daily News]

- Lineup announced for Northside Festival in Williamsburg. [NY Times]

- Red Hook march to save LICH draws hundreds. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- The Tablet magazine calls Brad Lander "Brooklyn's Unofficial Mayor."

- The NYPD doesn't care about speeding drivers, data shows. [Gothamist]

- Brooklyn Conservatives praise Thatcher as a role model. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- By mid-afternoon yesterday, the editor of the London Daily Telegraph announced he had closed comments on every Margaret Thatcher story. "Even our address to email tributes is filled with abuse," he said. [Sydney Morning Herald] 

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Brooklyn Biker Gangs Have Heavy Artillery; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- A raid on Brooklyn biker gangs Tuesday uncovered AK-47 assault rifles, homemade bombs, grenades -- and an actual cannon ready with .50-caliber rounds, aimed at the door. NY Times

- Lovers of Greek and Italian food in Bay Ridge and Bath Beach are mourning the loss of two popular restaurants. Brooklyn Eagle

- Teen auxiliary cop busted in underage alcohol sale frameup in Brooklyn. NY Daily News

- Charges dropped against alleged DUMBO 'upskirt' photographer/perv because victim won't testify. Gothamist

- Cobble Hill block will get makeover, following Landmarks approval of development plans. TRD

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The Fastest Internet Zip Codes in Brooklyn -- and the Slowest

Photo: Mangrove Mike

The Communications Workers of America reports that the median Internet download speed for the nation is 3.0 megabits per second -- equivalent to 3, 072 kilobits per second.

Which led us to wonder about Internet speeds in Brooklyn. Do some zip codes have faster download  speeds than others? (Upload speeds are slower.)

There's a handy Internet Speed Report app at the union's speedmatters.org website. We fed in Brooklyn zip codes and found the fastest and slowest download areas in Brooklyn.

It turns out that the fastest zip code in Brooklyn, 11204, is 5.7 times as fast as the slowest, 11209.

In other words, the average Internet user in the Bensonhurst / Bath Beach area can download a movie on Netflix 5.7 times faster than folks out in Bay Ridge and Fort Hamilton, who are frankly getting screwed, Internet-wise.

Students at Brooklyn College have an excuse for handing their homework in late as well. (And Coney Island's Internet moves at a snail's pace, but maybe everyone's having too much fun on the beach to mind.)

Here are the figures:

Fastest Internet Zip Codes in Brooklyn
11204 -- 21,004 kbps (Bensonhurst, Bath Bch)
11212 -- 19,849 kbps (Bushwick, Brownsville)
11218 -- 17,830 kbps (Kensington, Ditmas Pk)
11239 -- 16,388 kbps (Starrett City)
11236 -- 15,741 kbps (Canarsie, Jamaica Bay)
11213 -- 14,653 kbps (Crown Heights, Weeksville)
11211 -- 13,273 kbps (Williamsburg)
11219 -- 11,872 kbps (Borough Park)
11234 -- 11,042 kbps (Flatlands, Marine Pk, Mill Basin)
11208 -- 10,801 kbps (Cypress Hills)
11201 -- 10,432 kbps (Brooklyn Hts, Cobble Hill, D'twn, DUMBO)

Slowest Internet Zip Codes in Brooklyn
11224 -- 4,050 kbps (Sea Gate, Coney Island)
11210 -- 3,771 kbps (Brooklyn College, Flatbush)
11209 -- 3,659 kbps (Ft. Hamilton, Bay Ridge)

Other Brooklyn zip codes fall somewhere in the middle. Visit speedmatters.org to look up your zip code's average speed.

BTW: The FCC's goal for the country is 51,200 kbps (50 mpbs) download by 2015.


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Spraying in Brooklyn and Queens for West Nile Mosquitoes on Thursday, Sept. 6

Photo: Joaquim A. Gaspar

The New York City Department of Health is going to spray several neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens with pesticide starting this Thursday night, September 6 after 8 p.m. to combat swarms of mosquitoes infected with the potentially deadly West Nile virus.

DOH says that these neighborhoods are being treated due to rising West Nile virus activity with high or increasing mosquito populations:

In Brooklyn: Parts of Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Bay Ridge
In Queens: Parts of Lindenwood, Ozone Park and South Ozone Park

This includes the following Zip codes: parts of 11209, 11214, 11228, 11416, 11417, 11419 and 11420.

While the Health Department says the pesticide is safe when used properly, they urge people to stay indoors if possible during the night of spraying, close your air conditioner vents, remove children's toys and playground equipment (and wash them and anything else sprayed with soap and water including clothing or skin). We would add keep your pets indoors, and don't take your kids to the playground until after a rain.

Also, pick your herbs and vegetables before they spray!

In case of bad weather, application will be delayed until Monday, September 10.

Please drain any standing water on your property and call 311 to report standing water elsewhere. Read how to reduce your exposure to mosquitoes here.

Previous articles:

- Republican Map of NYC Bears Eerie Resemblance to West Nile Virus Mosquito Map of NYC
- Uh Oh: Deadly West Nile Mosquitoes Have Spread to Brooklyn
- Like Swallows to Capistrano, the Mosquitoes Return to Brooklyn

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Someone Is Shooting Darts at People with a Blow Gun in Brooklyn

Bay 32nd Street and 86th Street, scene of attack.

The bruises are painful, and multiple victims of a blow gun assailant are taking prescription medication to prevent possible infections from a needle-tipped dart attack in Bath Beach, Brooklyn.

A NY1 crew found several wicked, thin needles in the area that matched the victims' description of the darts.

Police are asking that anyone who knows a nasty person with a blow gun report to the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.

UPDATE: It was these jerks!

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

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Big Box BJ's at Bath Beach?

With all the noise about Walmart coming to Brooklyn, there has been little notice of the huge BJ’s Wholesale Club planned by Thor Equities in his Shore Parkway development in Bath Beach, notes the Brooklyn Eagle.

On Monday, evening at a public hearing at Borough Hall, a spokesperson for Thor Equities told BP Markowitz that there was indeed a signed lease with BJ’s for the entire first level of the project.

Full details here.

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