Around Brooklyn: Brooklyn Bridge Park seeks historic vessel at Pier 6

February 19, 2020 Editorial Staff

A visitor takes a photograph at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Brooklyn Bridge Park seeks historic vessel at Pier 6

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, which administers Brooklyn Bridge Park, this month issued a request for proposals seeking operators who could dock a ship with historical significance to serve as an educational or cultural center at Pier 6. Historic boats have previously operated at the pier, but only on a seasonal basis, according to 6sqft.com. The pier 6 wharf contains space for up to three berths, 6sqft.com said. The vessel must be either on the New York State or the National Register of Historic Place or be more than 50 years old and associated with a historic event or figure.

Other firms to join Wegmans at Navy Yard

Nearly 40,000 square feet in the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Building 212, which houses Wegmans, are either leased or about to be signed within the building’s office portion, according to the New York Post. The building has 130,000 square feet of office space as well as the popular Wegman’s supermarket. Tenants already signed up include green energy firm BlocPower, robotic furniture design firm On Living and fashion accessories producer Fydelity, the Post reported.

Coney man charged with Mitchell-Lama housing scam

A Brooklyn man has been charged with scamming three women out of $74,000 by promising to help them buy co-op apartments in the Amalgamated Warbasse Houses, a Mitchell-Lama development in Coney Island. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Tuesday that Akim Sokolovski of Coney Island told the victims that he could help them gain access to the housing complex’s management. He allegedly told each woman to pay him $15,000 to avoid going on a wait list, then asked two of them for more money, according to 1010 WINS.

Fire makes 29 Bensonhurst residents homeless

A three-alarm fire on Friday night swept through two Bensonhurst houses, displacing 29 residents, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The blaze started on the second floor of a two-story house on 85th Street between 19th and 20th avenues around 11:30 p.m. and spread to the second building by 12:15 a.m. More than 130 firefighters arrived at the scene and put the fire under control by 12:48 a.m., the Fire Department said. The Red Cross provided clothes, food and shelter for the seven families who lived in the two buildings.

Brooklyn author’s book eyes harassment of women

Many women walking down the street are exposed to various types of harassment, and local anti-street harassment groups have seen an increase in women reporting unwanted attention. Brooklyn artist Tatyana Fazlaizadeh’s new book, “Stop Telling Women to Smile” looks at how people from diverse communities and backgrounds experience street harassment differently, according to WNYC radio. She told WNYC’s Jami Floyd, “It’s important to address how certain identities that people hold really affect just how they are able to live their lives moving around the world.”

Six-story building planned for Broadway Triangle

Permits have been filed for a six-story mixed-use building at 161 Harrison Ave. in Williamsburg’s Broadway Triangle, according to New York YIMBY. The site, which is currently occupied by a nondescript two-story industrial building, is a short walk to the M and J trains’ Lorimer Street station and the G train’s Flushing Avenue station. Jay Fried of Yeshiva Boer Hatorah is listed as the owner behind the application, New York YIMBY said, and Rike Tech Associates is listed as the architect of record. The proposed building would include six residences, most likely condos, as well 8,640 square feet for community facility space.

Police seek caller who threatened cops

A man threatened to shoot Brooklyn cops on Saturday if Queens police officers didn’t check on his daughter within one hour, according to the New York Post. The suspect allegedly called police at the 114th Precinct in Astoria on Saturday and requested a wellness check on his daughter’s home, police said. “If you don’t respond in one hour, I will harm officers at the 67th Precinct,” he allegedly told the police dispatcher. It is not clear why he made the threat or why he targeted officers at the 67th rather than the 114th, but police are now looking for him, the Post said.

Brooklyn-based flea market set to open in D.C.

Artists and Fleas, a Brooklyn-based artisanal marketplace, will be opening next month on the corner of M and Potomac streets, Washington, D.C., according to The Hatchet, the student newspaper of George Washington University. Artists and Fleas began in 2003 in Williamsburg as a community in which artists and entrepreneurs could test their products without needing to officially launch a business. The market already has four locations in New York and one in Los Angeles. To be part of Artists and Fleas, artists and entrepreneurs need to fill out an online application that demonstrates that they “feel strongly about people having a hand in the creative and production process,” said co-founder Ronen Gilmer.

Chocolate menagerie arrives in Park Slope

A chocolate shop in Park Slope specializes in chocolate figures of various breeds of dogs and other animals, according to The New York Times. The store, Not Just Chocolate at 537 Fifth Ave., was started by recent Russian immigrants Sergei and Lena Potekhin. In their native land, Lena Potekhin worked for chocolate giant Mars, while Sergei worked in marketing. The couple moved to Brooklyn 2018 and opened their shop this past fall, the Times said.

Construction tops out at Flatbush tower

Construction has topped out at Caton Flats, a 14-story residential tower at 800 Flatbush Ave., Flatbush, according to New York YIMBY. The building will contain 255 affordable housing units as well as space for the dormant Flatbush Caton Market, which lost its previous home. While the site is under construction, the market continues to operate out of a temporary location at 2184 Clarendon Road. The building will also include 5,000 square feet of community space owned and operated by the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, New York YIMBY said.

Brooklyn DA’s general counsel mulls bid for Manhattan DA

Tali Farhadian Weinstein, the general counsel in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, is considering a bid for Manhattan district attorney, two sources told City & State. Current Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance has not said whether he is running for re-election in 2021, but Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the New York City Council Women’s Caucus and others have called for his resignation in regard to his record on sex abuse cases, City & State reported. Others who are reportedly interested in running are Assemblymember Dan Quart, New York Law School professor Alvin Bragg, attorney Janos Marton, civil rights attorney Tahanie Aboushi and criminal defense attorney Liz Crotty.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.