Around Brooklyn: Package, bike thief hits Prospect Lefferts Gardens

May 27, 2020 Editorial Staff

St. Anthony-St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Package, bike thief hits Prospect Lefferts Gardens

Residents of Prospect Lefferts Gardens are fearful that the same person has been burglarizing their buildings, stealing bicycles and packages despite upgraded security systems in their buildings. Rita Inana, a resident of Hawthorne Street, said that six bicycles and many delivered packages have been stolen from her building in the past two weeks. A video of one of the break-ins shows a man wearing a dark coat and smoking a cigarette. Ralph Pahlmeyer, a resident of the same building, said he has lost his bicycle and several packages, according to amNewYork.

Construction proceeds at supertall building

Construction is proceeding several floors above street level at 9 DeKalb Ave., a 1,066-foot-tall residential skyscraper in Downtown Brooklyn. The building, developed by JDS and designed by SHoP Architects, will become the first supertall building in Brooklyn. Recently, workers were seen placing rebar to form the next set of columns and walls as the recently poured concrete settles among the formwork below. The nearest subways are the B, Q and R trains’ DeKalb Avenue station as well as the 2, 3, 4 and 5 trains’ Nevins Street station. The building is expected to be finished by 2022, according to New York YIMBY.

Prospect Heights condo goes for $1.595 million

A modern condo with high ceilings, two outdoor spaces and a layout designed by well-known architect Karl Fischer in Prospect Heights is on the market for $1.595 million. It’s on the fifth floor of an eight-story building at 238 St. Marks Ave., a building completed in 2010. The condo unit has two bedrooms, two baths and two terraces. The living room has wood floors, a wide stretch of windows and built-in shelves. The building itself has a roof deck, private storage space and bike storage. The unit last sold in 2015 for $1.275 million, according to Brownstoner.

Crown Heights woman finds herself alone in three-bedroom apt.

Bonnie Blue Edwards has spent 10 years living with various roommates in a three-bedroom apartment in Crown Heights, However, Edwards’ roommates moved out in March due to the coronavirus. Because she had been furloughed from her job and her life would mainly be spent in the apartment, she hesitated about seeking new roommates. At the same time, her landlord agreed to decrease the rent as long as Edwards was living there alone. She turned one extra bedroom into a place to store personal protective equipment, then turned the other one into a guest room, according to the The New York Times.

Fishermen blast officials for barring them from park

Dozens of recreational fisherman who fish off Floyd Bennett Field are slamming federal park officials for closing the park in order to store idle MTA buses there, according to the Brooklyn Paper. Park officials sealed off the park in April. At the time, a group of more than 400 community gardeners successfully lobbied officials to let them back in. However, the fishermen are wondering why they have been overlooked. Their most popular fishing spot, located on the eastern side of the park, gives them access to striped bass, bluefish, fluke and sea robin, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

Gowanus officials to city: Get moving on rezoning plan

The strain of the COVID-19 pandemic on the city has some Gowanus community leaders and elected officials revisiting concerns they had raised about the city’s rezoning plan for their neighborhood. Although they have reservations about the project, they are also concerned that, with the Department of City Planning temporarily closed due to the crisis, the Gowanus rezoning will not move forward in any form. “If we don’t move forward on it at some point in the next few months, it won’t be able to be achieved in this (mayoral) term,” said Councilmember Brad Lander. In mid-March, Mayor Bill de Blasio issued an emergency order that froze all land-use review processes, which involve public gatherings, , according to City Limits.

Cocktails to go could become commonplace

Cocktails to go may no longer be merely a symptom of the pandemic. State Sen. Brad Hoylman has introduced legislation that would allow bars and restaurants to continue offering wine, beer and cocktails for takeout and delivery for two years after the emergency ends, according to New York Eater. When the coronavirus hit, the State Liquor Authority eased existing restrictions on the sale of liquor. “Iconic bars and restaurants — from Gem Spa in the East Village to Coogan’s in Washington Heights — have permanently closed,” Hoylman said in a statement on Twitter. “Alcohol delivery and take-out could be a much-needed lifeline for these small businesses.”

Brooklyn rapper’s family mourns death

The family of a Brooklyn rapper who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in New Lots on Friday are mourning him. “He’s never coming home,” cried Kennedy Joseph Noel’s mother Valencia Smith. She denounced the unknown killers as being motivated by jealousy and envy and as cowardly. The day before KJ Balla’s death, he was present at a family gathering to celebrate the birthday of his sister, according to the Daily New s. Despite his lyrics about gunfights and violence, the Grand Street Campus High School graduate avoided trouble, his mother said.

Church reopens — with restrictions

A Catholic church in Kensington that reopened on Tuesday was decked out with police tape cordoning off pews and warning signs everywhere. “I know it may look like a crime scene, or a construction site … but, it is a sign that light is at the end of the tunnel!” Immaculate Heart of Mary said of photos posted to its Facebook page before the grand opening. Seen in the church were signs saying “No mask, no entry,” “Social distancing is a must!” and “Sanitize your hands frequently.” Catholic churches in Brooklyn and Queens opened only for private prayer and devotion, with Mass still streamed online, according to the New York Post.

Church honors Vietnam vet who died of virus

On Memorial Day, parishioners at the Bethany Baptist Church on Marcus Garvey Boulevard remembered the lead usher of their church, 78-year-old Levi Faulk, who died of COVID-19. Faulk enlisted in the U.S. Army and served overseas for three years before his honorable discharge in 1973. He then moved to Brooklyn and got involved in the church. Bethany Baptist Church was one of the first churches in Brooklyn to offer COVID-19 testing in cooperation with the state, according to PIX11.

Davila secures testing site in her district

Assemblymember Maritza Davila fought to make sure that a testing site was placed in her district with the help of the Governor’s Office, SOMOS Health Care and United Revival Methodist Church. She reminded people that the first reported COVID-19 fatality took place at Wyckoff Medical Center in Bushwick on March 13. “We know that this virus affects mostly our elders, and it’s important we continue building testing sites, especially in areas that have seen an increased number of infections,” she said.

Felder asks city to open special ed schools

State Sen. Simcha Felder recently sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo demanding that schools for special-needs children be reopened. “The education of New York’s children is essential, and our school system must be included in Phase 1 of New York’s reopening plan. All our school children are struggling, but none more so than special needs students, who have now been without necessary services for months,” he said.

Girl sexually assaulted in Bensonhurst

An 8-year-old girl told police that a stranger sexually assaulted her on Tuesday in her backyard as she was putting away a bicycle, according to the Daily News. She was playing in her yard on Bay Parkway at 77th Street around 12:20 p.m. when a man walked in and started talking to her. The man asked her to touch his genitals through his pants, then exposed himself and made her do it again. After he fled, the girl’s mother called 911, according to the Daily News.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.