Around Brooklyn: Outdoor ice skating at Prospect Park

November 30, 2020 Editorial Staff

A view of Carroll Street in Crown Heights. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Outdoor ice skating at Prospect Park

The Prospect Park Alliance and Upsilon Ventures have announced that the 2020 outdoor ice skating season has begun at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park. The LeFrak Center sponsors year-round activities such as ice skating in the winter; boating, biking and roller skating in the spring through fall; and water play in the summer. In addition to timed, open skating sessions, starting in December the LeFrak Center at Lakeside will open its Skate School, offering private, semi-private and group lessons in figure skating and hockey as well as modified league play for hockey and curling. Lakeside is also available for birthday parties and other events.

Pizzeria closed after COVID outbreak

Brooklyn pizzeria Roberta’s was closed abruptly last week after several workers contracted the coronavirus. “As such we have decided to temporarily close our Bushwick & Williamsburg operations to ensure the safety of our staff and guests while we implement our contact tracing protocols and begin anti-viral cleaning procedures,” Roberta’s said on its website. Several takeout workers had contracted COVID-19, prompting the owners to stop business for testing and cleaning. Roberta’s has not yet set a date to reopen, according to the New York Post.

Schumer: $30B needed for vaccine rollout

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a lifelong Brooklyn resident, on Monday said that with a COVID-19 vaccine readying for distribution, a successful rollout will require about $30 billion in federal funds to ensure states like New York have the resources to distribute the vaccine for free. The rollout would include educating the public, hiring health workers and establishing clinics, among other items. “With a COVID-19 vaccine waiting in the wings, federal dollars need to follow if we are going to get this right and overcome this pandemic,” said Schumer.

Thieves steal ATM from gas station

Police are searching for two suspects who stole an ATM machine from a gas station in Cypress Hills. The theft took place at 6:30 a.m. on Friday at a BP station on Atlantic Avenue. Surveillance video shows one suspect making a purchase, then starting to pull the ATM away from the door. In the meantime, an apparent accomplice bought a lottery ticket to distract the worker behind the counter. The two yanked the ATM loose and took off in a white van, according to CBS New York.

Former MTA employee demands bus ride to Brooklyn

A former civilian employee of the NYPD accused of posing as a police officer while demanding that an MTA bus take him to Brooklyn was arrested Thursday in Manhattan. Police said Joseph McGreevy boarded a bus near York Street and 6th Avenue in Tribeca just before 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, pulled out a fake NYPD badge and told the bus driver to take him to Brooklyn. The X28 bus, which was heading north, was in service but completely empty at the time. The bus driver, who became suspicious, flagged down actual officers who arrested McGreevy.

$10,000 reward for info on Sweet 16 shooting

The reward for information on last month’s deadly shooting at a Sweet 16 party in Bedford-Stuyvesant has been increased to $10,000. Twenty-year-old Daijyonna Long, who was visiting from Stafford, Virginia, was killed, and six teenagers were injured. Police said a group of teens and young adults was having a party inside an apartment on Albany Avenue when bullets went through the walls of the apartment and struck the seven victims. Police believe this may have been retaliation for a shooting at an earlier party that night, according to CBS New York.

Four shot in Brooklyn on Friday night

Four people were shot in three separate shootings in Brooklyn on Friday night, according to published reports. The first incident took place in Prospect Park South at 7:10 p.m. in front of an apartment building on Tennis Court and East 19th Street. Police say the two victims, both in their late 20s, were standing in front of the building when an unknown gunman fired at them and fled. About two hours later, a 20-year-old man was shot in the face and hand while standing in front of a home on East 55th Street near Beverley Road in East Flatbush. The victim was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. Finally, a 40-year-old was shot in the leg after an argument in front of the Hotel Utica at 599 Utica Ave. in Brownsville around 10:30 p.m. The victim was taken to Kings County Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Police arrest man in attempted rape

Police recently arrested a man they say tried to rape a teenager last week Sunday inside a building on Foster Avenue in Midwood. Cops say David Gonzalez, 31, exposed himself to a 14-year-old girl in a hallway. When the girl tried to run away, Gonzalez allegedly grabbed her and knocked her to the ground. She was able to fight him off, and he ran out of the building and rode off on a moped. Gonzalez was arrested early Wednesday morning on charges of attempted rape, forcible touching and acting in a manner injurious to a child, according to CBS News.

Seven-story building planned in Flatbush

Permits have been filed for a seven-story residential building at 308 Linden Blvd. The site, located between Nostrand and New York avenues, is currently occupied by a three-story residential building and is two blocks from the 2 and 5 trains’ Church Avenue subway station. David Halberstam is listed as the owner behind the application, and Shawn E. Stiles of S&S Architectural Design is listed as the architect of record. The building will have 18 residences, most likely rentals, according to New York YIMBY.

Collision sends passenger flying out of UBER

A passenger was ejected from her Uber when a speeding Dodge Charger smashed into the vehicle in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn on Monday. The driver of the Dodge Charger went through a red light at Bedford Avenue and Dekalb Avenue and crashed into the for-hire vehicle at around 12:30 a.m. Surveillance video showed the force of the crash sending the Honda Accord, which was headed westbound on Dekalb Avenue, onto the sidewalk and coming to rest in front of a deli. The passenger, a 32-year-old woman, was ejected from the Uber and rushed to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition, according to ABC News.

Affordable housing lottery opens

An affordable housing lottery is now open for BPHN Senior Residences at 1488 New York Ave. in East Flatbush. The seven-story building, when completed, will have 89 units. Available on NYC Housing Connect are 48 studio apartments for senior residents, with eligible income up to $45,000. The building will include an outdoor terrace, a recreation room, a laundry room, a community center operated by Evangelical Crusade Christian Church, medical services and a security guard, according to New York YIMBY.

Four-story building planned for Bed-Stuy

Permits have been filed for a four-story residential building at 1437 Hancock St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The site, between Irving Avenue and Wyckoff Avenue, is two blocks west of the Halsey Street subway station and is currently occupied by a parking lot and served by the L train. Horizon Group under the 1504 Jeff LLC is listed as the owner behind the applications, and Olivera Grk is listed as the architect of record. The proposed 55-foot-tall development is slated to have nine residences, most likely rentals. The building will also have a rear yard, according to New York YIMBY.

Affordable housing lottery opens in East NY

An affordable housing lottery is now open for Fountain Seaview B3 apartments, a nine-story mixed-use development at 881 Erskine St. in East New York. The development is designed by Aufgang Architects and developed by Arker Companies. It will include 144 units, a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Available on NYC Housing Connect are 112 apartments for residents at 30 to 60 percent of the area median income, ranging in eligible income from $13,543 to $84,600. The building is one of eight in the redevelopment of the former state-run Brooklyn Developmental Center site, according to New York YIMBY.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.