Around Brooklyn: Back to the playground for assemblymember

July 21, 2020 Editorial Staff

The building with the red truck painted on it is ReUse America’s vintage furniture store. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Back to the playground for assemblymember

Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte showed off her double dutch skills as part of Elite Learners’ Double Dutch Academy Event at Paerdegat Park in East Flatbush last Saturday. The organization provides athletic and educational programming for youth and their families. Bichotte said this was a comeback from last year’s event, in which she tripped and stumbled, according to NY1 News.

Artist donates 1,800 paintings to Interfaith

Interfaith Hospital in Bedford-Stuyvesant received a special delivery last week: a truckload of 1,800 paintings, one for every employee. The paintings were created and donated by Los Angeles-based artist Michael Gittes. At the height of the pandemic, Gittes had the idea to donate a painting to every employee, from doctors and nurses to janitors and security guards. At that time, Interfaith Medical Center was about 90 percent occupied by patients suffering from the coronavirus. “When [hospital staff] actually got to touch and see the paintings, it was like Christmas,” Interfaith CFO Tracy Green told CNN.

Five-story apt. building planned for W’burg

Local developer LTNG and Pliskin Architecture are working to complete a new five-story building at 76 North 8th St. in North Williamsburg. The building would include one triplex apartment, one floor-through apartment and a duplex with a private roof. Renderings released to the public show tall, single-pane windows surrounded by a red brick façade, according to New York YIMBY.

Possible Trader Joe’s location nears completion

A new building in Williamsburg that is rumored to become a future home for a Trader Joe’s is almost finished. The sixth story building at 200-206 Kent Ave., between Metropolitan Avenue and North Third Street, is slated to house offices, retail space and parking in the basement. Rumors began circulating in 2015 the Trader Joe’s will move into the ground floor, but the supermarket chain has not yet announced that it will move into the space. The second floor is designed for a parking garage, and the upper stories will be dedicated to office space, according to Brownstoner. The building is being developed by Cornell Realty Management in partnership with LIVWRK.

Sixth Ave. tower rises in Prospect Heights

Construction is now underway at 37 Sixth Ave., a 26-story residential building in Prospect Heights. The building, which is known both as 495 Dean St. and 664 Pacific St., is being developed by the Brodsky Organization and designed by Marvel Architects. The structure is part of the Pacific Park mega-project, which was first envisioned by Bruce Ratner, and is slated to contain 323 rental units. The site is between Dean and Pacific streets and is directly across the street from Barclays Center, according to New York YIMBY.

Nonprofit rents space in Sheepshead Bay b’ldg

Selfhelp Community Services, a social service provider organization, has secured a lease at 626 Sheepshead Bay Rd. The nonprofit will consolidate two of its existing facilities into the new location, which will house two programs that offer services to Holocaust survivors and the elderly, according to Globe Street.

Schumer: Feds need to support Postal Service

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said recently that as lawmakers head back to Washington to negotiate the next coronavirus recovery bill, U.S. post offices could be forced to shut their doors unless they receive more personal protective equipment and other supplies to keep workers safe. “Whether it is New York City, the suburbs of Long Island, Staten Island or beyond, the USPS performs a lifeline service for countless Americans and the people of New York that must continue amid and beyond this pandemic,” said Schumer, a lifelong Brooklynite.

Colton talks about small biz aid

Assemblymember William Colton (D-Gravesend-Bensonhurst-Bath Beach-Dyker Heights) announced that he recently participated in a Zoom Assembly Public Hearing on how to help small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the meeting, sponsored by the Asian American Commerce Association, he mentioned several programs: the federal Payroll Protection Program and the New York State Forward Loan Fund, targeting businesses with fewer than 20 full-time employees; the Employee Retention Grant Program, for businesses with fewer than five employees; and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s Bring Back Brooklyn Fund.

Stray bullet wounds woman in Bed-Stuy

A stray bullet struck and wounded a woman who was walking from one homeless shelter to another. Police say Yvette Vuono, 66, was hit in the buttocks at the corner of Nostrand and Atlantic avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant around 7 a.m. on Monday morning. She was taken to Kings County Hospital in stable condition. An employee of nearby Furman’s Coffee on Nostrand Avenue recognized Vuono as a frequent customer. Regulars at the café said Vuono would sit and write in her notebook, according to the Daily News.

Biker dies in Belt Parkway accident

A motorcyclist died after slamming into the guardrail on the Belt parkway on Sunday. Police found the 52-year-old man near the Knapp Street exit in Sheepshead Bay shortly before 5 p.m. He was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital, where he died around 6:25 p.m., according to police. He was riding eastbound on the Belt when he lost control, suffering head and body trauma, according to the Daily News. The NYPD Highway Collision Squad is investigating the incident.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.