From the people who walk the streets to the sidewalks themselves, Sunset Park has serious texture. Out shooting the other day, I couldn’t help but notice the odd and fascinating variety of doors–oddly high from the ground, camouflaged in walls of color, and a bright spot in a field of gray. So here are a couple of shots with a common theme: unusual apertures.
Have any good “wallscapes” from Sunset Park? Send them along to sunsetparkchron@gmail.com with a note saying when you found it, where and the name you want to use as credit. I’ll put together a sideshow of some of the best looking shots.
Here are some of the goings-on with the Sunset Park politicos…
City Politics:
Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez has been elected Brooklyn’s budget negotiator for the third year in a row. Budgetary gloom and doom abounds at the state or city levels this year, and Gonzalez recognized the climate in a statement she released, saying, ““I will continue to seek innovative ways to ensure my constituents, as well as all New Yorkers, feel as little negative impact as possible as we navigate through the twists and turns of these troubled times.” Affordable housing, jobs, and education topped her list of priorities.
Gonzalez last week introduced a bill to limit alternate side of the street parking days in many residential districts to two days per week. The community board has been vying for this for a while, feeling it an onus on local residents to have the rules in effect four days each week. In fact, I heard a resident griping about just that as she walked out of the subway last week. The limit has already been implemented in Park Slope, Fort Greene and other neighborhoods northward.
Lastly, Gonzalez was one of several members to float another idea–making March 31 a national holiday honoring union-organizer and farm worker César Chávez.
In Albany:
Assemblyman Félix Ortiz is back the news, this time stumping for legistlation to requires skiers to don helmets when they before hitting the slopes, the New York Times reported. Though no salt ban, this too might face some opposition. The legislation, originally introduced in 1998 after the deaths of Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy, would penalize slope operators for bareheaded patrons.
Representative Nydia M. Velázquez made the news this week in a NY Times article on the March for America immigration rally in Washington. She’s not the only one from Sunset Park speaking up on the issue–La Union and it’s youth arm Y-ACT also made the trip south for the march.
Police have opened a homicide investigation in the death of a man found with his throat slashed at the scene of a fire on 56th Street last Tuesday, according to Jesus Pintos, deputy inspector of the 72nd precinct. It looks, sadly, like Sunset Park is following a recent uptick in murders throughout the city.
Burglaries in the 72nd Precinct are up 120 percent from this time last year, due in large part to a recent spate in Sunset Park. Shoddy locks and improper safety measures have a lot to do with it, Inspector Pintos said. Police recommend taking basic precautions–make sure doors are shut properly when you leave the house, and replace old or flimsy locks and bolts.
Two men in their early 20s were badly stabbed near Greenwood Cemetery on March 16, the Inspector said. Carlos Perez and Fernando Simon were walking along on 26th Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues when they were confronted by one or two men. Perez and Simon were rushed to Lutheran hospital where last week they remained in critical condition. Police said the investigation is ongoing.
Things do look a bit grim, but here is some perspective: while crime may be up 12.32 percent this year in the 72nd precinct, it is down 21.92 percent from this time in 2008.
After all that heavy stuff, I thought a little levity might be in order:
There’s a new dawg on the block in Sunset Park. ProspectBark, a Brooklyn pet-care business, is less than a year old, but it’s already making moves. It had a get-to-know the neighborhood last week, and now offers its services from dog walking to pet sitting in Sunset Park. You can check out testimonials, find out more, and contact ProspectBark on their web site.
After more than six months on the market, Sunset Park’s historic Rainbow Cafe has been sold. CPEX Real Estate released the news today that the building at 3904 Fifth Ave. has been sold “to a local investor” for $1,650,000.
For 30 years home to a family owned bar and retaurant, the Cafe shuttered after its owner passed away last year. BestViewInBrooklyn noted the closure last June. It went on the market soon after; the nearly 9,000 square foot building on 39th Street and Fifth Avenue, which includes four units of housing over the cafe, was listed for $3,250,000. Despite news that real estate is looking up, it seems properties at Sunset Park are still going at bargain-basement prices. Anyone know who that “local investor” might be? Leave a comment or drop a line to sunsetparkchron@gmail.com.
When winter was in full force, Friends of Sunset Park gave a shout-out to the guys taking on the snow like it was their job.
The Center for Family Life’s Spark! blog keeps tabs on the goings-on of their blossoming cooperative network (stay tuned for a story on on of their groups to be published soon on Sunset Park Chronicled).
The Sunset Park Blog has notes on Chinese New Year, the shuttering of Ellie’s Bar and an opportunity for some part time work. Take a look!
Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez with teacher Maria Diaz and students at P.S. 24, photo by William Alatriste
Local Politics–Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez keeps busy:
*Councilwoman Sara M. González last week joined Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and others at P.S. 24 on 38th Street for the official launch of ‘Respect For All Week’, a citywide program to address bullying, harassment and discrimination in New York City Schools. “We will be instilling a most valuable life lesson to children at a young age, that bullying, harassment and discrimination are not acceptable in today’s society,” said Councilwoman González in a press release.
*On March 12, the councilwoman took part in a panel discussion chaired by Senator Velmanette Montgomery as part of an emergency meeting at Borough Hall in Brooklyn to address the slated closures of day cares and Head Start programs throughout the city. DC 1707, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators and the Day Care Council called the meeting in response to the threatened cuts.
*Friday was supposed to be the final voyage, but the Rockaway Ferry will forge on, NY1 reported. A last minute deal brokered between the City Council, including Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez, and the mayor’s office will extend the ferry service until July, including its service to the Brooklyn waterfront.
In State News:
*Congressman Felix Ortiz raised the ire of many local restaurateurs when he proposed a bill to ban salt, yes that is the use of all salt, in New York restaurant. Ortiz advocates the ban as a way to address health issues such as hypertension that have skyrocketed in recent years. But you can imagine how fans of salami, pastrami, French fries, salt cod, soy sauce and, well, most dishes with flavor felt about the Sunset Park Democrat’s plan. Tom Colicchio, star of “Top Chef” and owner of Craft restaurant, served as token foodie in the Daily News coverage. “New York City is considered the restaurant capital of the world,” he said. “If they banned salt, nobody would come here anymore.”
After much tomato-tossing, Ortiz last week he backed down from the ban, the YourNabe reported. It seems, in the long run, good for Sunset Park’s many eateries. The tears of the Top Chef crowd might not tug on any heartstrings in Sunset Park, but the end of savory banh mi and chorizo-laden pambazos is another story.
*Congresswoman Yvette Clark joined with two other House Democrats in to oppose the reduction in the number of station agents in New York City subways, Gothamist reported. Clark is the Chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology. The letter to MTA chairman Jay Walder implied the reduction could have serious consequences: “We strongly urge you to re-evaluate the current plans” and not, potentially, “compromise” subways, they wrote. You can read more at the NY Times.
Rendering for Annabell Selldorf's design of the Sunset Park recycling center. Image from The Architect's Newspaper
Good morning. Here’s what’s been in the news related to streets and buildings in the nabe:
*Sunset Park has long planned a new recycling center down on the waterfront. Curbed last week posted a peek at some of the plans by “starchitect” Annabelle Selldorf’, which would include linked waterfront buildings with barge access, green roofs and even…goats? You can read more about the project in the full article at The Architect’s Newspaper. Take a look and come tell us what you think.
*Two sites offered rundowns of the “Future of Fourth Avenue” meeting last week. The Post noted the skeptics in the crowd, while the blog All About Fifth said, “the attendance was high and the engagement, real.”
*March 10 saw the groundbreaking on Sunset Park Early Childhood Development Center. The project of Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens serves more than 400 low-income families, is located in the former St. Michael’s School building near 42nd Street and Fourth Avenue. The center will also offer classes for parents in nutrition, housing assistance, ESL and GED, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.
Flushing this week hosted the big-time festivities for Chinese Lunar New Year, but “Brooklyn’s Chinatown” saw some action, too. On Eighth Avenue last Monday to have a bowl of new-year’s noodles (long noodles=long life), I happened upon a miniature dragon paradeLion Dancers parade, put on by a group of young people associated with the Freemasons. These snakey, multi-legged creatures are a staple of the Lunar New Year’s parades–dragons have a long symbolic history in China, and are considered auspicious.Dragon’s are indeed auspicious, but as Frank pointed out below, these are lion dancers. As always, thanks to readers for keeping SP Chron on the straight and factual.
2010 is the year of the Tiger. If you’re a Tiger (born in 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 or 2010) you are kind, given to deep thinking, sympathetic and, apparently, a bit hot-tempered. For those among us not born under the sign of the “dynamic and powerful” big cat, which is usually associated with big changes and social disorder, “2010 is likely to be a turbulent year—on both a global and a personal level,” (this according to Yahoo!, mind you, which also offers tips for navigating this years’ ups and downs).
I hadn’t gone to Eighth Ave expecting to take photos so the images are rather b-grade, but I thought it worth a post regardless. Do you have New Year’s images from around town? Pass them along to sunsetparkchron@gmail.com. For a look at some truly stunning images of China ringing in the New Year, check out the Boston Globe.
For something closer to home, here’s a short video:
I had heard tell of this earlier in the week, but a reader pointed out the coverage this morning. You can below watch the My Fox New York interview with Rittenberry and McGraw. The Post picked it up today as well:
Lance McGraw was on his way to work Thursday when the 23-year-old found a mission to test his mettle: a faint woman fell onto the tracks before an oncoming N-train at the Eighth Avenue station in Sunset Park–McGraw leaped to the rescue.
Waiting for the morning train at 8:30am, Parsons student Rosie Rittenberry began to feel faint. She suddenly fainted and tumbled onto the tracks. McGraw dropped his backpack and jumped in after her, lifting the 18-year-old, still unconscious, back onto the platform.
“It was a life-or-death situation,” Rittenberry told the Post. “This could have turned out much, much worse.”
After the horrific train accident that severed the leg of 16-year-old man earlier this week, it is good to hear a happy ending, and that old-fashioned heroism is not dead.
