Brooklyn Boro

Around Brooklyn: Commercial tenants fall behind in rent

May 26, 2020 Editorial Staff
The tall building is One South First, as seen from the NYC Ferry. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle
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Commercial tenants fall behind in rent

Across New York City, commercial tenants, such as retail stores, are falling behind in rents in unprecedented rates, according to the New York Times. The decline in commercial rents has stripped many landlords of their largest source of income every month, the Times said. The drop in rental income threatens some landlords’ ability to pay property taxes. The Community House Improvement Program, which represents about 4,000 landlords of rent-stabilized apartment buildings, said last week that among its members who also have commercial tenants, two-thirds of those tenants did not pay rent during the last two months.

Construction site collapse injures two

Two people were hospitalized after a collapse at a construction site collapse in Brooklyn on Thursday, PIX11 reported. Officers said firefighters responded to the scene at 375 Flushing Ave. in south Williamsburg just after 8 p.m. on Thursday. Two people were taken to a local hospital, the FDNY said.

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Owner, recovered from virus, reopens restaurant

Just after he moved his restaurant, BK Jani, to a larger space in Williamsburg on March 3, Sibte Hassan contracted the coronavirus and spent 12 days in the hospital. The restaurant, whose name means “Brooklyn Sweetheart” in Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, had to close. Now, according to ABC7, Hassan is fully recovered, and the restaurant has reopened. BK Jani, which Hassan calls “a halal burger joint,” offers burgers with chutney and other Pakistani street food, ABC7 said.

Bay Ridge artist decorates store windows

A Bay Ridge artist is decorating the windows of local businesses with pictures of local landmarks and encouraging messages to lift people’s spirits in the time of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Brooklyn Paper. Alicia Degener’s first installment was a painting of the Statue of Liberty on the windows of Bubbles and Suds Laundromat on Fifth Avenue. Then, 10 more neighborhood businesses signed up for personalized window paintings. Soon, Degener enlisted the help of friends who are also artists. “We are happy to share a sense of community and not to feel so let down,” Degener told the Brooklyn Paper. Degener said she got the idea after posting samples of her art to the Bay Ridge Facebook page.

Brooklyn salon CEO creates customized coloring kits

Michaella Blissett-Williams, who owns four now-shuttered hair salon locations in Brooklyn, is selling hair-coloring kits that she makes herself, according to NY1. These “survival kits,” as she calls them, contain everything her clients need to color their hair at home. She came up with the idea a day before the city closed hair salons and barber shops. Within days, she launched a website and started selling her products. One of her workers, Christine Valentin, said, “The last thing we want is for people to go and damage their hair with those box colors you get from the supermarket or drug store.”

Rapper killed in New Lots drive-by

Rapper KJ Balla was killed, and another man was injured, during a drive-by shooting in New Lots on Friday night, according to amNewYork. Officials from the 75th Precinct responded to a 911 call from Bradford Street near New Lots Avenue. Police said Balla and another man were outside the location when a vehicle drove up and an unidentified gunman began firing at them before speeding away, amNewYork said. Police rushed Balla to Brookdale University Hospital, where he died. The other man had already been taken to Brookdale. Balla was known for two hit singles, “Switch the Game” and “Strangers.”

Cops search for Brooklyn deli shooter

Police are seeking the killer who fatally stabbed a 23-year-old man after a dispute at a deli in East New York on Sunday night, according to amNewYork. Police from the 75th Precinct found the victim stabbed in the chest, back and neck after responding to a 911 call at 1129 Blake Ave. They rushed him to Brookdale University Medical Center, where he died, amNewYork said. Police learned that he had gotten into a dispute at the nearby Placenia Deli. One witness said the victim had recently had a daughter and was “turning his life around.”

Leasing begins at Williamsburg rental development

Developers have begun leasing at The Dime, a 177-unit rental building in South Williamsburg, according to New York YIMBY. The building, above the historic Dime Savings Bank at 275 South Fifth St., also includes retail space and office suites. The building, designed by Fogarty Finger Architecture, is 22 stories high. Amenities include a community garden, a yoga studio, a cooking area with gills, dining tables, communal work spaces, a half basketball court and a fitness center. “We’re proud of The Dime, from its architectural design to its efficient and modern living spaces to its carefully thought-out amenities,” said Sam Charney, founder and principal of developer Charney Companies.

Park Slope Couple launches online T-shirt shop

Brooklyn couple Rob and Julianne Hebron, who live in Park Slope, have decided to start their own business and help struggling small businesses at the same time. Their online T-shirt shop is called “Let Brooklyn Sleep,” according to the Brooklyn Paper. People who wish to shop can head to the couple’s website. The Hebrons take $5 out of every T-shirt sale, and customers can choose which Brooklyn small business will receive the other $20. So far, donations have been made to One Girl Cookies, Screamers Pizza, Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store, Electric Lotus Tattoo and others, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

BK Reader spotlights ‘best college bars’

BK Reader recently posted an article about some of the best college bars in Brooklyn. College bars, in this case, means bars where college students of all types can get together, not bars geared to students and alumni of one particular college. Among the college bars listed are Sweet Polly, Do or Dive, Boobie Trap, Friends and Lovers and Full Circle Bar.

Adams, Treyger have plan to open the beaches

Borough President Eric Adams and Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Bath Beach-Coney Island-Gravesend) have come up with a plan to reopen Brooklyn beaches. The plan centers on opening beaches in sections. “Once a section gets full, you can move people to another section because of how the beach is laid out,” Adams said. When it comes to the Coney Island amusement area, Adams added, it’s important to reopen at some point this summer, since most of the vendors are seasonal businesses.

Cops search for woman who robbed hotel room

Police on Monday were looking for a woman wanted for a burglary at a hotel in Brooklyn. They said that on Saturday morning, the woman walked into the victim’s room at the Brooklyn Hotel on Atlantic Avenue in Crown Heights, stole clothes and jewelry worth $11,000, then ran off, according to the New York Post. The victim was said to be an out-of-town doctor helping with the coronavirus pandemic.

Teens trash, steal items from Brooklyn golf course

A group of teenagers stole six golf carts from the Marine Park Golf Course, then vandalized at least 20 other carts and damaged the course’s fence, according to News 12 Brooklyn. One 16-year-old in the group was later arrested in the Kings Plaza Parking Garage and was charged with burglary, grand larceny, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. “This comes at a particularly difficult time because we’re trying to plan for an opening,” Michael Giordano, manager of the public golf course, told News 12.

Brownstoner highlights Brooklyn organizations

Brownstoner recently highlighted seven Brooklyn organizations that are raising funds and doing good in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic. They are the Bring Back Brooklyn Fund, which gives support to small businesses; Red Hook Initiative, which provides summer jobs for youth; CHiPS Pop-Up Food Program, which is active in Park Slope and nearby areas; the Food Bank for New York City, which provides hunger relief; the Brooklyn Community Foundation, which sponsors the Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund; and Brooklyn for Life, which provides food for frontline workers.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.


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