Around Brooklyn: New bar opens in Bushwick despite restrictions

July 10, 2020 Editorial Staff

The modern building with the huge circular windows is the Wyndham Garden Hotel. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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New bar opens in Bushwick despite restrictions

Mika, a new Bushwick bar, opened for the first time last week, and its customers are dining outdoors to meet coronavirus restrictions. Bar owners John Du and Mika Furuva, opened the bar despite the challenges posed by coronavirus restrictions. When things get back to normal, the former warehouse will include shuffleboard, pool tables and darts as well as a stage. “We got the permits and all that in January. We were shooting to open March, but that didn’t happen,” said Du, according to BK Reader.

City invests in high-speed internet

About $157 million has been invested to provide high-speed internet to low-income communities in New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the investment a major step in tackling the digital divide in the city. From the $157 million investment, about $87 million has been redirected from the NYPD budget. “Broadband is the way that so many people access everything,” including education, job opportunities and job training, de Blasio said. NYC will also work with minority- and women-owned businesses as well as nonprofit organizations to invest in low-income communities, PIX11 said.

Man prosecuted by feds for drugstore robbery

A Brooklyn man was arrested and charged with trying to rob a pharmacy and repeatedly stabbing an employee. According to charges, Rayvaughn Williams allegedly entered the Canarsie Plaza Pharmacy on Aug. 12, 2019, and claimed he was there to pick up a prescription. When the employee couldn’t find a record of the prescription, Williams allegedly pulled out a knife from a plastic bag and demanded money. “Thanks to the tireless work of the men and women of the ARB-NYPD Robbery Task Force, he no longer poses a threat to public safety. I would like to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their work in prosecuting this case,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge John B. DeVito, according to amNewYork.

DeKalb Food Market reopens

DeKalb Food Market, located in the basement of Downtown Brooklyn’s City Point Mall, was one of the city’s most popular food halls when it was shut down by the coronavirus. Now the market is being reopened, with a smaller number of vendors setting up curbside stands on the sidewalk. Each of the six vendors has a table set up outside with a menu. They include Katz’s delicatessen, Likkie More Jerk, Hana Noodle Station, the Pierogi Boys and the Flo. Other restaurants that might be coming include Kopti Donor, Andrew’s Hard Times Sundaes and BK Jani, according to Gothamist.

Hasidic community might have ‘herd immunity’

Four months after the coronavirus arrived, the Hasidic community is acting like things are normal — they’re taking classes in yeshivas, going to summer camps, going to synagogue services and packing wedding halls, sometimes in violation of city and state rules. However, few are getting sick. Many inside the community itself believe that they had the virus at one time and now have immunity. Local health care providers and administrators agree, saying surveys and tests suggest that as much as 70 percent of the community has had COVID-19 and recovered. The window to “flatten the curve” in Brooklyn’s tight-knit Orthodox communities may have been over long before government officials got involved, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Brooklyn man battles kidney diseases

After Samuel Haltovsky of Brooklyn left the hospital after battling COVID-19 related pneumonia, his kidneys were in sad shape. The coronavirus can have many manifestations, from kidney function problems to inflammation of the brain. Haltovsky’s kidney condition progressed to end-stage renal disease. Compounding the situation was the fact that after being discharged, he went 11 days without kidney dialysis. Fortunately, a team from Dialyze Direct, a private company, came to his house and performed on-site home dialysis treatment. The system is done by a trained caregiver and connects to the home’s water and drain lines, according to Fox News.

Sneaker store postpones opening after melee erupts

A Flatbush Avenue store that was selling sneakers designed by DJ Khaled had its grand opening fall apart after large numbers of people tried pushing their way inside because of a rumor that Khaled himself would be there. Some people allegedly began throwing firecrackers and causing explosions. The store, known as Snipes, then decided to delay the grand opening. “Due to caring about the safety of our customers and staff, we will not be opening the doors today,” Snipes wrote on social media, according to the New York Post.

Woman attacked, beaten in Brighton Beach

A 70-year-old woman in Brighton Beach says she was attacked from behind by another woman while waiting for a bus last week. Elba Fuentes was leaving a fruit market when the suspect attacked her. “She grabbed me like this and threw me down face down to the floor, and started kicking me,” she said. The attacker then beat her with her own cane, took off her sneakers and tried to grab her purse. As Fuentes screamed, three neighborhood residents stopped to help, and one pulled the suspect off her, according to ABC7.

Eugene cuts ribbon for dog run

Councilmember Mathieu Eugene (D-Flatbush-Prospect-Lefferts Gardens) joined colleagues and community advocates last Monday for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Kensington Dog Run at the Prospect Park Parade Grounds. Eugene helped make the dog run possible through his capital funding. “It was a pleasure to provide funding for [the dog run’s] creation and I believe the dog run represents a significant investment in the community that will serve current and future generations of New Yorkers,” Eugene said.

Ortiz slams Trump decision on foreign students

Assistant New York State Assembly Speaker Felix Ortiz (D-Sunset Park-Red Hook) last week decried the Trump administration’s announcement that foreign students seeking academic degrees in the U.S. will have to leave the country or risk deportation if the colleges and universities they attend move to online-only courses. “It’s unbelievable that Donald Trump would threaten to deport students because a college or university opts to protect the health and safety of students, faculty and so many others by moving to online-only courses,” said Ortiz.

First woman becomes head of Brooklyn North

NYPD Assistant Chief Judith Harrison is now the commanding officer of Patrol Borough Brooklyn North, a part of the city that has seen a rise in shootings and murders. Among the neighborhoods it covers are Brownsville, East New York and Crown Heights. Harrison has been with the NYPD for 23 years, and is now meeting with community members and police officers to help improve relationships between police and citizens. Her mother worked for the NYPD as a civilian employee, according to NY1 News.

Pairs of shoes represent shooting victims

Over 100 pairs of shoes were placed on the steps of Borough Hall recently, representing Black and Hispanic victims of gun violence around the city. Borough President Eric Adams took part in the ceremony with clergy, members of Black Lives Matter and Harlem Mothers Stop Another Violent End. Adams was particularly outraged at the shooting and murder spree since the beginning of June, all of whose victims were minorities. The borough president said it will take community-based efforts, including outreach by social service organizations and elected officials, to reach out to gangs, but he also admonished parents to be responsible for their children, according to amNewYork.

Tenants say landlords are harassing them

Tenants in a house owned by a local businesswoman and her husband in Crown Heights are saying their landlords harassed them and illegally tried to evict them. Four tenants are saying that Loretta Gendville, owner of Area Yoga and Planted Café, and her husband, Gennaro Brooks-Church, tried to evict them from their house on Dean Street without an order from Housing Court. The tenants say the owners at first agreed to stop charging rent when the coronavirus pandemic began, but later demanded it. One tenant, Scout Gottleib, said that Gendville entered her apartment and pushed her way into her bedroom, and that another time Gendville brought a crowd of people into the hallway, blocking her, according to Brownstoner.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.