Around Brooklyn: Affordable complex to be named after Dr. Hastick

July 23, 2020 Editorial Staff

Here's the Belt Parkway, with a view of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Affordable complex to be named after Dr. Hastick

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced a plan to build a complex containing almost 300 affordable apartments as well as social services and amenities on Clarkson Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. The new complex, Clarkson Estates, is being developed by CAMBA Housing Ventures. The site, currently owned by the Health Science Center, is now occupied by a one-story brick garage. Of the 291 units, 146 will be set aside for homeless young adults, youth aging out of foster care and former prisoners. The complex will include a training kitchen, a library, a computer room and community rooms as well as a turf field. The social services “Hub” be named for Dr. Roy Hastick, who died of COVID-19 in April, according to Brownstoner.

Food Bazaar buys Red Hook Fairway

The popular Fairway supermarket chain, which started out as a produce stand on the Upper West Side, thrived for years before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. Now, Food Bazaar operator Boqopa Enterprises Inc. has bought the Red Hook and Douglaston, Queens, Fairways. The company paid less than $900,000 per store, according to reports. Food Bazaar promises to “engage in good-faith negotiations” with the Fairway employees’ union. The Red Hook store was a popular shopping destination, but was also criticized as an overpriced symbol of gentrification, according to Gothamist.

Park Slope limestone selling for $3.99M

An early 20th century limestone house at 5 Plaza Street West, only steps from Grand Army Plaza, is selling for $3.99 million. The house is one of four constructed in 1901 on the same block as the Montauk Club. The house was home to the Sisters of the Good Shepherd from 1964 to 1994, when it reverted back to residential use. Much of the original interior details survive, such as wooden mantels, stained glass, wainscoting, wooden floors with inlaid borders and more. The parlor level has a rounded front bay window, and a middle parlor has a grand central stairway and a massive fireplace. The dining room has stained-glass windows with heraldic designs, according to Brownstoner. The bedrooms and baths are on the upper two floors.

Anti-gun violence activists gather in Bed-Stuy

Dozens of anti-gun violence activists gathered for a demonstration in Bedford-Stuyvesant on July 16 after a recent rise in shootings across Brooklyn. They began their evening procession outside the office of the community organization Save Our Streets in Bed-Stuy. The march kicked off a weekend of outreach in the neighborhood. “We look at violence, especially gun violence, as a public health issue and not a criminal issue,” said Shadoe Tarver of Save Our Streets. “We believe that we can stop the spread of violence just like you can stop the spread of a disease,” he told the Brooklyn Paper.

Pro-, anti-cop protesters face off in Marine Park

Supporters of police argued with Black Lives Matter protesters in Marine Park on July 19, but without violence or arrests. Observers said there were more police officers in the park that protesters on either side. The pro-cop groups, because of the extreme heat, canceled a march from nearby Resurrection Church and instead met up in Marine Park at the same time as BLM supporters marched to show support for their movement. The two sides shouted at each other at times, but violence never erupted, according to amNewYork.

Domino Park adds security guards

Domino Park has added private security guards and barricades at its entrances, drawing complaints from some community members. The addition of these security measures is a response to public drinking, fireworks and other illegal activities on the Williamsburg waterfront, Michael Lampiorello, director of the park, said. However, Greenpoint political activist Lincoln Restler said, “I am sure that many people would be wary to go through a security checkpoint to enter a park space.” One white Williamsburg resident, who only identified herself as Lucille, said she and a friend, who is a person of color, tried to enter the park, and the guards allowed her in but turned her friend away, according to Greenpointers.

Construction begins on zebra-striped building

Construction is moving along on a 22-story hotel at 291 Livingston St. in downtown Brooklyn that was designed by Gene Kaufman Architect and is being developed by Aview Equities and Hello Living. The hotel is slated to contain 100 guest rooms and a ground-floor beer garden. The most conspicuous design aspect of 291 Livingston St. is a black-and-white striped pattern covering most of the western elevation, as seen in renderings. The closest subways are the 2, 3, 4 and 5 trains’ Nevins Street station and the B, Q and R trains’ DeKalb Avenue station, according to New York YIMBY. A completion date for the building has not yet been announced.

Mosley couldn’t see the Forrest from the trees

Tenant organizer Phara Souffrant Forrest has declared victory over incumbent Walter Mosley in the 57th A.D. primary election. The Board of Elections’ absentee ballot count put Souffrant Forrest, a registered nurse, ahead of the eight-year incumbent. “We made history by electing a socialist nurse in the middle of the worst pandemic in 100 years,” she said in a statement on July 22. The heavily Democratic district spans Crown Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Prospect Heights, according to amNewYork. Although she was not endorsed by her own union, Souffrant Forrest was endorsed by well-known progressives such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon.

Pickup truck crashes into outdoor restaurant

Julian Davide was sitting outside at L’Wren restaurant in Sunset Park when a 2005 Ford pickup truck rammed into the barrier, throwing diners, tables and chairs to the ground. Three people were injured and taken to Lutheran Hospital. The vehicle appeared to drive right into the seating area, but police said the incident was an accident. The driver, a 22-year-old man, was given a summons. Police say he was not intoxicated, according to Fox 5.

Fitness studio moves outdoors

When the coronavirus pandemic forced gyms to close, Brooklyn boutique fitness studio owner Ife Obi decided to move her studio, The Fit, outdoors. She now meets clients at Decatur Playground in addition to offering classes online. “When COVID happened and when we we’re only offering the on-demand classes, we were down 95 percent in revenue, so it took just a lot of my own kind of personal hustle and luckily I have other work, to keep this thing going,” Obi told NY1 News.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.