‘Parm to go’ featured at old-time Italian restaurant
An old-school southern Italian restaurant in Midwood, Michael’s of Brooklyn, has now launched a “parm-to-go” counter. Cheesy chicken, eggplant, meatball and veal sandwiches are offered. Delivery is a new thing for the 58-year-old establishment, but owner Michael Cacace has offered it since the state-mandated closure of restaurants for dine-in service on March 16. Michael’s of Brooklyn is located at 2929 Avenue R and Nostrand Avenue, according to New York Eater.
Drive-in movie theater coming to Greenpoint
Movie theaters may be closed because of the coronavirus epidemic, but the same factor has given rise to a rebirth of an old idea — the drive-in movie theater. Skyline Drive-in, will open in Greenpoint next to the Brooklyn Expo Center at 1 Oak Street near the East River. The drive-in will show movies on Friday and Saturday and will also function as a filming location, according to Brooklyn Vegan.
When a body meets a body, it may go to court
Three funeral homes in Brooklyn are facing lawsuits after a well-publicized incident in which the remains of dozens of people were found in unrefrigerated U-Haul trucks. The trucks in question were parked outside the Andrew T. Cleckey Funeral Home in Flatlands. An investigation was opened after area residents complained about foul odors coming from the trucks. The relatives of the deceased people in question are suing the funeral home, DeKalb Funeral Services and Armistead Burial and Cremation, NY1 News said.
Preservationists: name plaza after Emily Roebling
Preservationists want to rename a planned pedestrian plaza beneath Brooklyn Bridge, which has been covered in the Brooklyn Eagle, after Emily Roebling, who oversaw the completion of the borough’s namesake span after her husband, Washington Roebling, who became bedridden after contracting caisson disease. Washington, in turn, had taken over from his father, engineer John Roebling, who designed the monument. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation has dubbed the new plaza “Brooklyn Bridge Plaza,” but some park activists have been advocating for the Roebling name since 2018, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
Cuomo focuses on Flatbush, East Flatbush as COVID hot spots
While acknowledging that New York City has made progress in battling the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that testing and tracing resources would be focused on several New York City ZIP codes that have seen much higher infection rates than the city as a whole. Among the 10 ZIP codes that led the city in the number of COVID-19 infections during the past week, two are in Brooklyn: Flatbush and East Flatbush. Most of the others are in the Bronx, inlcuding Norwood, Belmont, Williamsbridge and Pelham Gardens, according to amNewYork.
Brooklyn home sales remain 80 percent below last year
Activity in Brooklyn’s luxury real estate market increased last week, but it is still way down from a year ago. The borough saw four deals last week for a total of $9.4 million, according to a report from Compass that looks at Brooklyn homes asking $2 million or more. The priciest deal was for a townhouse at 84 Putnam Ave. in Bed-Stuy, which was seeking about $2.6 million, The Real Deal said.
Grocery store clerk held in shooting
A Brooklyn grocery store clerk is now in custody after police say he shot a customer who was holding a knife. The incident happened inside the Rose Family Grocery Store on Glenmore Avenue in East New York on Monday night. Video on the store’s camera showed someone coming at the clerk with a knife, and the victim’s father, Edwin Candelario, admitted his son had been drinking. Still, the victim’s aunt, Luz Sanchez, said, “He could have shot him in the leg. He could have pushed him,” according to CBSNewYork.
NYPD chief slams Brooklyn courts for no bail on gun arrests
NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan on Tuesday criticized Brooklyn’s justice system for allowing too many people who were arrested for gun possession to leave court without bail. “That’s a problem when most of the gun arrests are being made in Brooklyn, but those who are arrested are right back on the street with no bail set,” Monahan said in a Twitter post. Of 31 gun arrests during the past month, 185 were in Brooklyn, according to the Daily News.
Brooklyn man nabbed in scam of Sam’s Club
In the third recent attempt by Brooklyn criminals to scam Sam’s Club in Lower Nazareth Township, Pennsylvania, Godrey Aristil on Monday allegedly used another person’s name, address and credit card information to create a Sam’s Club membership. Sam’s Club management told police that two transactions had been made by other people using the same credit card number. A local police officer was advised that Aristil was still inside the store, and the officer waited for him to come out and arrested him, according to Lehigh Valley Today.
Prankster decorates his manager’s car with NYPD markings
A prankster attracted attention on Tuesday after using blue duct tape to outfit his boss’ car as an NYPD cruiser. “It was a joke, it was my manager’s car,” said Emin Aghayev, a delivery driver for Bklyn’s Pizza in Bensonhurst. Local resident Jon Graves saw the car on 86th Street near 14th Avenue and posted a photo on Facebook, which was shared almost 1,000 times within 48 hours, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
Rose secures testing sites in Bay Ridge, S.I.
U.S. Rep. Max Rose (D-Bay Ridge-Staten Island) announced recently that in partnership with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, AdvantageCare Physicians, a primary and specialty care practice, has begun COVID-19 testing and diagnostics at three locations in Bay Ridge and Staten Island. The Brooklyn location will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 740 64th St. “I am never going to stop working to secure the resources our district needs to overcome this pandemic,” Rose said.
Coney Island USA presents online show
On Thursday, Jun 11 at 8 p.m., BoxCutter Collective, a group of performance artists and puppeteers, will be broadcasting live from an abandoned Coney Island funhouse. The performance will be streamed live on the Coney Island USA Facebook page, with viewers asked to pay between zero and $15. The BoxCutter Collective describes themselves as “an extended family of rabble-rousers and mischief makers” who want to “take over the rotten empire one cardboard puppet show at a time.”
Lawsuit: cops stopped man, insisted he was someone else
A Brooklyn man who was stopped by police was sent to a psych ward by cops who insisted he wasn’t who his ID said he was, a new lawsuit claims. Police pulled DeShawn Gray over at around 10 p.m. on April 24 near Powell Street and Pitkin Avenue and asked him for ID. Even though Gray knew the other man whom police said he was and told them that man was in prison, the officers dragged Gray out of the vehicle and put him in handcuffs, the lawsuit alleges, according to the Daily News.
After-school program turns into food pantry
Elite Learners was created four years ago to provide mentorship and education for underserved children in Brooklyn. However, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, Executive Director Camara Jackson partnered with Councilmember Farah Louis to open a new food pantry on Avenue D in East Flatbush. Jackson, a former high school teacher, said the focus of the program had to change because the pandemic had left both children and families hungry, according to PIX 11.
Group home workers honored with car parade
People who work in group homes for people with developmental disabilities were honored by a parade of cars through the streets of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights on May 21. The workers, who are employed by the Guild for Exceptional Children, have been working weeklong shifts since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Group homes like the ones operated by GEC have been hit hard by the pandemic, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
Compiled by Raanan Geberer.
