Around Brooklyn: Eviction trials to resume July 27

July 13, 2020 Editorial Staff

The Tidal Marsh Bridge Lookout. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Eviction trials to resume July 27

In-person eviction trials will resume in Brooklyn on July 27, according to Hon. Anthony Cannataro, administrative judge of the New York City Civil Court. The first priority will be evictions that were on the calendar before March 16, when the first statewide ban on evictions was put in place. Three courtrooms at 320 Jay St. have been reserved for these trials. The judge also said that although eviction trials can now take place, they will not necessarily result in an eviction warrant or a judgment of possession, according to The Real Deal.

Changing outdoor dining rules vex owners

As city restaurants rush to reopen for outdoor dining, some restaurant owners say that city bureaucrats keep adjusting guidelines for outdoor dining and threaten heavy fines for noncompliance. Mario DiBiase, owner of Sotto Voce in Park Slope, said that an inspector from the city Department of Transportation visited his restaurant and told him that its outdoor seating did not meet regulations and that he could face $1,000 in fines. The owners of Clover Club and Leyenda in Carroll Gardens added that they built their outdoor seating areas based on the city’s guidelines, but were forced to reconstruct them when the guidelines changed soon afterward, according to Brownstoner.

S.I. councilman wants to end West Indian parade

A Staten Island Republican councilmember is calling for the end of the famous West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, saying that New York can no longer afford to police it. “Each year, there’s several shootings and homicides surrounding the West Indian Day Parade and J’Ouvert. It’s a danger for cops, revelers and the public,” Councilmember Joe Borelli tweeted. Fight Back Bay Ridge co-founder Mallory McMahon tweeted back, “He should start with Columbus Day and St. Patrick’s Day if this is just about funding.” And Crown Heights Assemblywoman Diana Richardson said he’s trying to win political points at the Caribbean community’s expense.

Too few lifeguards means too few beaches

While New York City beaches officially reopened for swimming on July 1, a shortage of lifeguards has kept large sections of the shore off-limits, causing beachgoers to crowd into the few open bays. Only four of the 14 bays along Coney Island’s west end were open during the July 4 weekend because of the shortage. Several sections of the beach’s eastern side were also closed. The process of hiring and training lifeguards usually starts in January, but was put on hold this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to amNewYork.

Bushwick entrepreneur hosts Zoom workshop

Francesca Chaney, the young owner of Sol Sips vegan restaurant, is sponsoring a two-day Zoom workshop where entrepreneurs learn how to put community at the center of their business plans and assess their relationship to big business, gentrification and white supremacy. In early June, Sol Sips also launched Black Supper, an initiative providing at least 400 plant-based meals to the Black community. Chaney spent much of her life in East New York, Bed-Stuy, and most recently Bushwick, according to BK Reader. Tickets to the workshop are available at Chaney’s website.

Multi-vehicle crash kills three

An 11-year old boy and two others died over night after a multi-vehicle crash on Aviation Road and Flatbush Avenue near Floyd Bennett Field. Police said two cars collided head-on in an empty parking lot. The dead were an 11-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man. In addition, a 14-year-old boy is hospitalized in critical condition. The crash is being investigated, according to PIZ11.

Sewage leaked into Canarsie basements after storm

Residents in Canarsie say sewage leaked into their basements during Tropical Storm Fay, and that their calls to 311 were ignored. They say they’ve had issues with flooding since Superstorm Sandy in 2011. Now, they say, sludge, sewage and stagnant water is everywhere. One homeowner said, “We’ve got flooding, it’s a marshland so everyone forgets about us. We know that the water comes in, and that’s why we have the pumps and water vac,” according to NY1 News.

Footage of Crown Heights drive-by released

Police on Saturday released footage of a drive-by shooting in Crown Heights that left a 28-year-old man with a bullet wound in the rear. The shooting happened around 11:08 p.m. on July 9 in front of an apartment house at St. Marks and Schenectady avenues. Cops say the victim was one of several people who were hanging out on a stoop when a four-door sedan rolled up along the street and someone inside started shooting. The victim was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he was treated and released. Police said the car did not have a front license plate, rims or hubcaps, and it had a blue rear license plate, according to amNewYork.

Brooklyn RE has worst first quarter in decade

Brooklyn home sales fell last quarter at their highest rate in 10 years because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, at the same time, the median Brooklyn home price increased to a record $820,000, according to a market report from Douglas Elliman. The sales and inventory figures underscored the full effect of the shutdown, in which would-be sellers pulled their listings or delayed putting their properties on the market. Overall, there was a 40.5 percent drop in Brooklyn sales, year over year. Similarly, in Queens, sales fell 46 percent year over year, according to The Real Deal.

Symon Says on Schermerhorn Street

Exterior work is wrapping up at The Symon, a 13-story condo building at 76 Schermerhorn St. in Boerum Hill. The building, located between Boerum Place and Court Street, was designed by Colberg Architecture and developed by Loricena Partners, Orange Management and the Davis Companies. Construction workers were recently seen working around one of the wide arched windows on the top floor. The ground floor, behind a construction fence, is the last major section to be completed, according to New York YIMBY.

Protest stops traffic on Brooklyn Bridge

A protest march on Sunday temporarily closed all Brooklyn-bound lanes on the Brooklyn Bridge. The Police Department said approximately 1,200 orderly protesters had been marching over the bridge as part of the Unite New York Fourth of July Rally and March, according to CNN. Unite New York is a coalition that seeks to unite New York’s protest groups.

One-year-old boy killed in shootout

A one-year-old boy was killed and three others were shot when two gunmen opened fire at a cookout in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The boy was identified as Davell Gardner of Chester Street. The incident happened at the Raymond Bush Playground at Madison Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard around 11:35 p.m. on Sunday. Police say two men dressed in black opened fire on the group, then ran away through the park, according to ABC7.

Blue Lives Matter demonstration leads to shoving match

A rally in support of the NYPD and against the recent police budget cuts became a shoving match in Dyker Heights as the demonstrators ran into a group of counter-protesters. The pro-police rally, whose marchers carried American flags, banners and signs, was led by Republican congressional candidate Nicole Malliotakis. Democratic Councilmember Justin Brannan, who also represents the area, said that the rally may have been organized to support the NYPD, but it ended up as “a political stunt designed to divide the community,” according to NY1 News.

Curtis Sliwa hopes to become mayor

Guardian Angels founder and talk radio host Curtis Sliwa, of “Curtis and Kuby” fame, seeks to run as a Republican and pull an upset in next year’s mayoral election. He says he’s the only Republican in the city with “the credibility in the streets” needed to take on what he calls “the AOC wing of the Democratic Party.” He feels he can win because “I’m the one Republican who’s comfortable in projects, comfortable in tenements, comfortable in being outside in very adversarial situations where people are coming at me a mile a minute,” he told Kings County Politics.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.