Around Brooklyn: Cranberry’s closes in Brooklyn Heights

July 7, 2020 Editorial Staff

This walkway juts out of Penn Pier in Shirley Chisholm State Park. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Cranberry’s closes in Brooklyn Heights

Well-known Brooklyn Heights take-out bakery and coffee shop Cranberry’s has closed after 42 years in the North Heights. Owner Jim Montemarano, who also owned the wine bar next door, told the Brooklyn Heights Blog that “it’s been an emotional quarantine deciding Cranberry’s future.” The pandemic would not have been a direct factor, since Cranberry’s never had seating and was only for takeout. Montemarano said he “couldn’t be more pleased with our 42-plus years of being a part of this incredible neighborhood,” according to New York Eater.

Four-story building planned in East Flatbush

Permits have been filed for a four-story residential building at 76 E. 53rd St. in East Flatbush. The corner lot, currently occupied by a one-family house, is within walking distance of the 3 and 4 trains’ station. The building is slated to have 12 residences, most likely rentals, as well as six enclosed parking spaces. Babak Shamsian is listed as the owner on the applications, and Badaly Engineering is listed as the architect of record, according to New York YIMBY.

Historical Society starts emergency fund

The Brooklyn Historical Society on Pierrepont Street is urgently seeking funds after a water leak damaged several 19^th-century artifacts as well as the museum’s floorboards and light fixtures. The society’s HVAC system sprung a leak on June 11, seeping through the floor and dripping onto several 19th-century documents. The leak was quickly detected by the Historical Society’s property manager, and steps were taken to prevent further damage. Even though much of the damage was paid for by insurance, the Historical Society now has a $100,000 budget shortfall, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

Washington Street open for outdoor dining

Washington Street between Water and Front streets in DUMBO, one of the city’s most photographed blocks, now hosts outdoor dining on Friday nights and weekends as part of the city’s Open Restaurants program. Other streets dedicated to weekend dining in DUMBO include parts of Dock Street, Main Street and Anchorage Place. Among the restaurants that are now serving outdoors are Juliana’s Pizza, Gran Electrica, Oddfellows Ice Cream, Seamore’s Seafood and several more. The effort is overseen by the DUMBO Improvement District, according to 6sqft.com.

Menchaca speaks on Summer Youth roll-out

City Councilmember Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park-Red Hook) on Friday sent a letter to Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Mayor Bill de Blasio urging a public briefing to address difficult issues faced by providers and youth groups as the Summer Youth Employment Program rolls out on July 13. Some of the issues include alleged failure to provide personal protective equipment or any funding to purchase the protective equipment for youth and staff, as well as how and when participants will be selected.

MTA creates new B’klyn-Manhattan bus

The MTA has created a new late-night bus route, the B99, which basically follows the route of the 2 train, which is inactive between 1 and 6 a.m. It offers overnight-only service between Midwood and Manhattan, according to the MTA. In general, ridership on both buses and subways has gradually increased, but is still averaging more than 1.1 million on an average weekday, a decline of approximately 80 percent from normal levels.

Voter registrations decline because of virus

A new voter registration analysis shows a sharp decline in voter registrations in 2020 compared to 2016, according to the city’s Campaign Finance Board. New voter registrations in the city are down by 49 percent in 2020 compared to 2016, the study reveals. New voter registrations also declined by more than 20 percent in the rest of the state. Many observers believe that New York State is particularly impacted because it lacks an online voter registration portal that’s accessible to all voters. The young are particularly impacted — more than 500,000 people between 18 and 29 are eligible to vote but remain unregistered.

Some seek to rename Barclays after Robinson

Several Brooklynites are renewing calls to rename Barclays Center after Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson became the first Black American to play in the Major Leagues, spending 10 seasons with the Flatbush ball club and paving the way for other Black players on the team, such as Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella. “You’re seeing certain individuals being criticized and their statues rightly removed, and here’s the opportunity to do something symbolic,” said Arthur Piccolo, a Park Slope resident who started the movement more than 10 years ago, according to amNewYork.

City to spray for mosquitoes in Brooklyn

To reduce mosquito activity and the risk of West Nile virus, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene plans to conduct its first aerial spraying of the season in marshland and wetland areas of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and State Island from Wednesday to Friday. “While we hope everyone is getting outside and carefully enjoying the summer season during the ongoing public health emergency, we want to ensure that everyone remains safe from mosquito-borne diseases,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot, according to Patch.

Man who supplied bottles for Molotov cocktails arrested

A man from Ulster County who prosecutors say provided the bottle used to make a Molotov cocktail that was later thrown at an NYPD van was arrested Friday. Timothy Amerman, 29, appeared in state court in Albany on Saturday. Police says investigators searched Molotov cocktail-throwing Samantha Shader’s car and found a note addressed to her with Amerman’s fingerprint. The note read, in part, “I found a few more glass bottles.” Amerman admitted that he believed that Shader planned to use the paint and bottles he provided to throw at police and counter-protesters, according to ABC-7.

Brooklyn woman killed in chain-reaction crash

A Brooklyn woman who worked as a babysitter to help support her family in the Ukraine was fatally struck in a chain-reaction crash, and the speeding hit-and-run driver has been charged with manslaughter, police said. Mohammed Nasim was allegedly racing south in a Kia Optima on Ocean Avenue when he sped through a red light on Avenue J on Sunday evening. He slammed into a Lexus sedan that was heading east on Avenue I. The impact sent the Lexus crashing into Mariya Usarchenko, who was crossing Ocean Avenue. The Kia hit another car after Nasim jumped out of his vehicle and fled, according to the Daily News.

Vinegar Hill house with storefront, apartments selling for $2.15M

An early 19th-century Greek Revival house in Vinegar hill with a wooden storefront and two apartments above is now selling for $2.15 million. The building, at 54 Hudson Ave., probably dates to the 1830s and is within the Vinegar Hill Historic District. The red-brick building has been owned by the same family since the 1970s, and was at one time the home of a political club, according to Brownstoner. Its most recent claim to fame is that the storefront “impersonated” a butcher shop in Boardwalk Empire.

Refrigerated warehouse still stores remains of deceased

A city-owned refrigerated warehouse on 39th Street in Sunset Park, a short distance from Costco, still stores scores of bodies, and hearses rolling up to it are a common sight. The “disaster morgue,” created during the COVID-19 crisis, housed 1,344 remains as of Tuesday. This is less than the 2,000 or so bodies that were stored at the facility at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the New York Post. Bodies remain at the warehouse while families decide how they want their loved ones to be buried.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.