Around Brooklyn: Co-living space opens in Williamsburg

December 10, 2020 Editorial Staff

From left to right, these distinctive Victorian homes are 57 to 69 Bay 11th St. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

From left to right, these distinctive homes are 57 to 69 Bay 11th St. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Co-living space opens in Williamsburg

Co-living developer Quarters has opened a new community in Williamsburg, its fourth location in the city. The 41,000-square-foot property, built inside a former school, has 160 bedrooms in suites and duplex units. Among the building’s amenities are an outdoor deck with views of Manhattan’s skyline and the Williamsburg Bridge as well as several barbecue grills and multiple seating areas. Rents start at $1,375 monthly, according to Multi-Housing News, a trade publication.

Seddio seeks apology from local pol

Democratic District Leader Frank Seddio, the former head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, wrote in an email that he apologizes for overreacting to another member of the Brooklyn Democratic Party Executive Committee’s “bullying and disrespect” toward him during a four-hour Zoom meeting. He identified the other committee member as Doug Schneider, who “aimed his bullying and abuse at the senior citizens on the committee … and at a member who is disabled,” Seddio said. He added, “I have apologized. Will Doug Schneider?” Schneider’s website identifies Schneider as a civil rights attorney who is active in Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope and is running for City Council.

New work announced on F train tunnel

The MTA has announced the next phase of work on the F train’s East River tunnel, formally known as the Rutgers Tube. This phase will be conducted on nights and weekends starting in early January and is expected to be completed in April. Once finished, there will be additional cell phone service throughout the tunnel and improved disabled accessibility at the East Broadway station. The project includes infrastructure improvements such as new track, power and communications cables, signal equipment and tunnel-lighting systems. During this period, F trains will be rerouted over the C line between Brooklyn and Manhattan late at night and weekends. East Broadway in Manhattan as well as York Street in Brooklyn will be closed during these periods.

Menchaca hails agreement on vaccines

On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state reached an agreement with the federal government that would protect the identities of immigrants when they access the vaccine. Councilmember Carlos Menchaca (D-Red Hook-Sunset Park) said, “Undocumented immigrants have and continue to be the hardest hit by the deadly virus. Higher incidence of poverty, overcrowded housing conditions, and a high concentration in jobs where social distancing is difficult expose immigrants at a higher risk of infection. If our undocumented neighbors are dissuaded from participating in the vaccination program, it would jeopardize both their health and the efficacy of the entire vaccination program.”

Nadler applauds James, other AGs on Facebook issue

As the Eagle has reported, on Wednesday more than 40 state attorneys general, led by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, and the Federal Trade Commission filed antitrust lawsuits alleging that Facebook has illegally maintained its monopoly by acquiring its competitors, such as Instagram and WhatsApp. “Rather than competing with Instagram and WhatsApp, it appears Facebook simply bought these firms to expand its dominance,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-Brooklyn-Manhattan). “As a result, Facebook has illegally maintained its monopoly, allowing it to engage in other abusive conduct. This should never have happened in the first place, and accountability is long overdue.”

Brooklyn murder suspect escapes from Caribbean prison

Veron Primus, who was indicted in absentia in Brooklyn 10 years after the 2006 cold-case murder of Brooklyn high school student Chanel Petro Nixon, has escaped from prison on St. Vincent, where he was awaiting trial for an unrelated murder on the island. A police bulletin was issued for Primus, 33, and convicted killer Ulric Hanson, who were both inmates at Her Majesty’s Prison in Kingstown. Primus, born in St. Vincent, grew up in Brooklyn and attended school here, meeting Petro Nixon in church. On Father’s Day in 2006, Petro Nixon, then 15, told her parents she was going to submit a job application at Applebee’s on Fulton Street. She was supposed to meet Primus, then 19, at the restaurant. She never came home, and her body was later discovered folded over in a garbage bag on a Kingston Avenue sidewalk, according to PIX 11.

Gravesend ZIP code has highest COVID rate in city

A Brooklyn ZIP code’s coronavirus infection rate is now the highest in the city. In the 11223 ZIP code, which covers Gravesend, 10.99 percent of the people who underwent testing for coronavirus tested positive. The area is followed closely by two Staten Island ZIP codes and one in the Bronx. In Brooklyn itself, 11229 in Sheepshead Bay, 11230 in Midwood and 11204 in Bensonhurst all had high infection rates. The rates in Gravesend have increased greatly from what they were just a few weeks ago, according to Patch.

Bronx, Brooklyn teens missing

The NYPD is searching for two teens: a 15-year-old girl from the Bronx and a 15-year-old boy from Brooklyn. Their cases are not considered connected, police said. The Brooklyn teen, Malik Daleiy, was last seen Friday at his home in Brooklyn. He is described as being Black, 5-foot-8, weighing 150 pounds with a slim build and a medium complexion. The Bronx Teen, Myasia Gibbs, was last seen Tuesday at her home in the Bronx’s Mott Haven section, according to 1010 WINS.

Malliotakis seeks to help freezing dogs

U.S. Rep.-elect Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge, Staten Island) has joined with local efforts to save animals being kept inhumanely. Recently, she participated at a local protest against animal abuse, hosted by community activist Liam McCabe and other concerned residents of Bergen Place in Bay Ridge, where an illegal puppy mill is allegedly being operated in a decrepit foreclosed property.

Cops say driver, fleeing collision, ran over woman

A man was arrested on Wednesday night in East Flatbush for striking a woman with his car as he was fleeing another collision. Michael Raipaul, 22, is accused of running over the 53-year-old woman at the intersection of East 55th Street and Glenwood Road around 10:16 p.m., police say. The woman was taken to Kings County Hospital but could not be saved. Raipaul allegedly hit the woman as he was fleeing the wrong way down 55th Street from an earlier collision with a BMW. In the second crash, Raipaul struck a Honda sedan as well as the pedestrian. Raipaul is charged with manslaughter, assault and reckless driving, according to the New York Post.

Apts. reserved for very low-income New Yorkers

An affordable housing lottery for a building on Dumont Avenue in Brownsville is meant for people making between 30 and 60 percent of the area’s median income, which can be as little as $15,000 a year. The Dumont Avenue building, known as Van Dyke III, has 125 studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. Rent for studios ranges from $367 to $837, while rent for three-bedroom apartments ranges from $658 to $1,472, according to Patch. A percentage of these apartments are set aside for those with mobility, vision or hearing disabilities or New York City Housing Authority residents.

City investigates Hasidic synagogue

New York City officials are investigating a Williamsburg Hasidic synagogue that held a massive funeral last week. The synagogue is Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar at 152 Rodney St., and the funeral was for a former Satmar beit din, or Jewish religious court, judge. According to the New York Post, about 5,000 people, virtually all without face masks, crammed into the synagogue. “These large events are a real cause for concern, and we either need to see them be handled very differently, with really clear limits and precautions, or not happen at all,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters at a coronavirus briefing.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.