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Brooklyn Today May 2: Stickball, Ferries, and a Million-Dollar Ghost

May 2, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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THE LEDE: Happy Wednesday, Brooklyn! Here’s what’s happening in the borough. Palm Springs comes to Greenpoint, Brooklyn stickball adorns the latest New Yorker cover, and the city prepares for large ferry crowds this summer. Plus, a million-dollar townhouse rots on the Brooklyn HeightsPromenade, Sheepshead Bay is set to receive a 60-until rental building, and aFlatbush church receives some bad news. Finally, Con Edison is selling three properties on the Williamsburg waterfront, the premiere of “The Birds” takes place tonight at St. Ann’s Warehouse, and we share the questions that special counsel Robert Mueller wants to ask President Trump.                              
 
IMPRINT: British model Stella Maxwell poses in black on the May cover of Harper’s Bazaar Greece.  

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The Rundown
 

~THE MILLION-DOLLAR GHOST ON THE BROOKLYN HEIGHTS PROMENADE: The owner of a decrepit Brooklyn Heights brownstone that could sell for millions is in danger of losing the house to foreclosure — for the second time — if he doesn’t pay $55,000 in overdue taxes. Dr. Austin Moore, whose failure to pay his property taxes is a decades-old issue in the Heights, now has until May 17 to settle up with the taxman and stop the city from beginning foreclosing on his Promenade-facing 194 Columbia Heightstownhouse. If Moore doesn’t pay up, he could finally lose his once-stately home, which he is allowing to slowly decay, despite its location fronting one of the world’s greatest views. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~CITY PLANNING FOR BLOCKBUSTER FERRY CROWDS IN BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK: The city is about to launch larger ferry boats and add more dockhands to ease congestion at Brooklyn Bridge Park, one of the most popular destinations on the water-borne transit line. NYC Ferry will introduce three new 350-passenger ferries into the 19-vessel, 150-passenger citywide fleet this summer. Economic Development Corporation spokeswoman Stephanie Báezsaid the city will also charter several bigger vessels, based on demand — such as deploying them on beach routes on hot days. In addition, the ferry is hiring more staff “at particularly busy landings, like Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 1, to help with queuing,” Baez added. More staff could help ease long lines that sometimes stretch from the dock at Pier 1 almost to the River Cafe. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~BROOKLYN ’50S STICKBALL SCENE ADORNS NEW YORKER COVER:Stickball, whether played in the street or in the schoolyard, was huge among New York City kids years ago, but the cover drawing of the April 30 issue of The New Yorker, “Stickball Alley” by Kadir Nelson, clearly portrays a Brooklyn version of the game. It shows an African-American boy in a blue Brooklyn Dodgers cap at bat with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. “I wanted to create an image that celebrated [Jackie] Robinson, baseball and New York, and what better way to connect all three than a stickball game, set in the 1950s?” Nelson said. Nelson grew up in New Jersey and San Diego, but added, “as soon as we crossed over the bridge and I set foot on Brooklyn pavement, it was like coming home.” (via Culture Type)
 
~A TASTE OF PALM SPRINGS COMES TO GREENPOINT: In today’s world, theme bars abound, and one of the latest will bring a taste of Palm Springs, the city in the California desert known for its hot springs, stylish hotels, boutiques and restaurants, to similarly fashionable Greenpoint. The bar, The Springs, at 224 Franklin St., will feature cocktails from co-owner Sarah Boisjoli, who was inspired by the 1950s era of the famed West Coast resort. Among the cocktails are Desert Springs, Riverside Revival, Sunburn, Aperol Spritz and Scooby Snack. The Springs has leather banquettes; eclectic tables, chairs and couches; a long bar that seats 16; and a 5,000-square-foot outdoor patio. (via New York Post)
 
~LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION NIXES BID TO SAVE CENTURY-OLD FLATBUSH CHURCH: Local efforts to save the Baptist Church of the Redeemer at Cortelyou Road and Ocean Avenue in Flatbush, built in 1919, have not succeeded, and the church’s building is now slated for demolition, according to City Limits. The building has deteriorated over the years, leading to the congregation’s decision to demolish it and replace it, in partnership with Mutual Housing Association of New York, with a nine-story affordable housing development with space for the church on the ground floor.(City Limits via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~CON EDISON SELLING ‘LAST LARGE-SCALE’ WILLIAMSBURG WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT SITE: Con Edison is selling three vacant sites a block north of the former Domino Sugar Refinery on the Williamsburgwaterfront, according to Crain’s. The three sites along River Street, which total about 3.2 acres, are designated for manufacturing and commercial uses but could be rezoned for residential development. Cushman and Wakefield sales executive Stephen Palmese said the properties are worth more than $100 million. “It’s a unique site that represents really the last large-scale development opportunity on the water in the neighborhood,” he said. (Crain’s via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~SHEEPSHEAD BAY TO GET 60-UNIT RENTAL BUILDING: New permits have revealed that a mixed-use development will soon rise at 2633 Ocean Ave. The corner lot currently sits vacant, but will eventually yield an eight-story structure with adjacent enclosed parking designed to accommodate 30 vehicles. The structure will comprise 37,854 square feet of residential area divided into 60 units. Permits also list an additional 4,146 square feet of ground-floor commercial area for a proposed total building area of 42,000 square feet, reports New York YIMBY. (New York YIMBY via Brooklyn Eagle)

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Staff Picks:   
 

LONG READ: “The Questions Mueller Wants to Ask Trump About Obstruction, and What They Mean” (via NYT)
 
ANOTHER LONG READ: Tesla owner Elon Musk spends money like wildfire. Here’s how the American business magnate has raised billions of dollars and spent it just as quickly. (via Bloomberg)
 
EXPLORE: From the Nevada desert to the Montana mountains, here are the 12 creepiest abandoned towns in America. (via Thrillist)  
 
EAT: Traveling soon? Here are the best places to eat inside John F. Kennedy Airport. (via Eater)

 
 
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NATIONAL BULLETIN: Diseases spread by ticks and mosquitos are rising dramatically…A Portland man is arrested with more than $50,000 worth ofstolen legos…And border patrol agents find a tiger cub in a duffel bag in Texas. (via NYT, Newsweek and CNN)            
 
FOREIGN FLASH: Five skiers die in a snowstorm in the Swiss Alps…A fire causes a 26-story building to collapse in Sao Paulo…And a restaurant in Toronto is forced to pay a black customer $10,000 Canadian dollars for making him prepay for a meal(via The Guardian, BBC and CNN)                              
 
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 ROYAL WATCH: 
Here’s who’s paying for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s $690,000-minimum wedding(via Good Housekeeping)

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BROOKLYN TONIGHT     
 

7:30AM – 1:15PM — Feasting, Fasting and Eating Disorders in the Jewish Community at Sheraton Brooklyn New York Hotel. Details.   
 
11:00AM – 6:00PM — Pride & Loss at Jenkins Johnson Projects. Details.      
 
2:00PM – 6:00PM — Tomás Rivas: Provincia at Open Source Gallery.Details.
 
5:30PM – 9:00PM — The New Smart Economy: Digital, Technology, Blockchain at Berg’n. Details.
 
6:00PM – 8:00PM — Created in Brooklyn at Park Slope Library. Details.  
 
7:00PM — A Different Picture: Women Filmmakers in the New Hollywood Era, 1967—1980 at BAM Rose Cinemas. Details.
 
7:00PM — Soccer Mommy at Elsewhere. Details.
 
7:00PM – 10:00PM — Live Music with Irata & Sierra at The Kingsland.Details.
 
7:30PM The Birds at St. Ann’s Warehouse. Details.
 
8:00PM – 10:00PM — Full Moon Comedy with Tim BarnesKate Willet & More at Starr Bar. Details.    
      
 
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EAGLE SPORTS: St. Francis College Brooklyn track and field coachChristopher Mills believes his Terriers are primed and ready to make aserious run at grabbing some titles in this weekend’s Northeast Conference Outdoor Championships in Emmitsburg, Maryland. “They’re hungry, they’re aggressive and they’re running with confidence,” Mills said after his 4×400-meter relay team stunned the field during last weekend’s Penn Relays in Philadelphia by beating out five other squads to win the eighth and final heat for the event. “I think we ran well,” added Mills, now in his second year at the helm of the school’s blossoming program. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

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MILESTONES
 
Happy birthday to Lily Allen, Christine Baranski, David Beckham, Elizabeth Berridge, Larry Gatlin, Paul George, Sarah Hughes, Bianca Jagger, Dwayne Johnson, Ellie Kemper, Tina Maze, Penny Pritzker, David Suchet and Jenna Von Oy!   
 
Brooklyn Today’s editor is Scott Enman. Contact him at[email protected].

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