Around Brooklyn: Cherry blossoms bloom at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

April 30, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

I photographed these cherry blossoms on the last day that Brooklyn Botanic Garden was open. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

Cherry blossoms at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Cherry blossoms bloom at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

It’s been about three weeks since the pink wave of cherry blossoms started to sweep through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Cherry Walk. The Garden is at its peak bloom right now. The Sakura Matsuri festival, which is usually held to mark the blossoming of the cherry trees, isn’t being held this year because of the pandemic. However, there are weekend pop-up music and dance performances to watch for. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden now requires advance tickets, according to Patch.

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Ditmas Park bakery goes viral

Back Alley Bread, a bakery founded by Ditmas Park residents Autumn Moultrie and Brian Villanueva, has gone viral on Instagram. The couple set up shop in their apartment in Ditmas Park in March 2020. Since then, they are operating out of a larger apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The bakers sell a variety of treats and fill about 100 orders weekly. The most popular item is the angel donut, which is drenched in cinnamon sugar and an African honey glaze from Sierra Leone, according to Time Out New York. They also sell savory items, such as a chicken and biscuit pot pie and a French onion soft pretzel.

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Brooklyn Fare travels to Hudson Yards

Brooklyn Fare Kitchen and Market, based in Downtown Brooklyn, has reopened its Chef’s Table restaurant in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards after it was closed to indoor dining for much of last year. The high-end, in-store tasting menu is priced at $430 per person and includes 16 courses. The Michelin three-star restaurant, under the direction of chef Cesar Ramirez, attracts customers from all over the world, according to Supermarket News. Brooklyn Fare is also seeking to open a supermarket location on the Upper West Side.
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New Target opens in East Flatbush

A new Target store has opened on Kings Highway in East Flatbush. The store, which occupies the former Kristal Auto Mall space, is one of about two dozen “small-format” versions of the chain in and near New York City. It includes groceries, apparel, home décor, personal car and beauty products, a CVS pharmacy and a Starbucks, according to Patch. Target first announced plans for the Kings Highway store in 2018. A Church Avenue store is also in the planning stages.

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Brooklyn woman charged with embezzlement

A Brooklyn woman, Vedeyah Badal of Ridgewood Avenue, has been charged with grand larceny and other crimes for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from her employer for seven years. In her role as the accountant of an exterior and interior demolition firm, she is accused of creating fake employees in order to cash their checks and pocket the funds for herself. She was arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Danielle Hartman on a three-count criminal complaint charging her with grand larceny, money laundering and falsifying business records.

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Affordable lottery begins in Williamsburg

An affordable housing lottery has launched at 555 Grand St., a six-story building in Williamsburg. The rehabbed building was built in 1920 and has 12 apartments. Available on NYC Housing Connect are two units for residents earning between $80,572 and $167,570. Residential amenities include a shared laundry room and an elevator. The two apartments are two-bedrooms with a $2,350 monthly rent, according to New York YIMBY.

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Hasidic leaders endorse Andrew Yang

The heads of several major Hasidic sects in Borough Park jointly endorsed Andrew Yang for the Democratic nomination for mayor on Wednesday, almost certainly guaranteeing the candidate several thousand votes from the neighborhood. The endorsement is signed by a coalition of ultra-Orthodox congregations that includes the Bobov, Belz, Satmar, Sanz-Klausenberg and Pupa sects. The statement, obtained by the Forward, reads: “After seriously considering the policies and the capabilities of the current candidates, and what’s the in the best interest of our community, we are endorsing the popular and energetic candidate, businessman and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang for mayor in the Democratic primary.”

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Brooklyn Tech 2nd best in state

Brooklyn Technical High School has been named the second best high school in the state and is among the top high schools in the country, according to a new ranking by U.S. News and World Report. The Fort Greene school was one of two public high schools Brooklyn to make it into New York’s top 10, the other being Brooklyn Latin School in Williamsburg. The top New York City school was Townsend Harris High School in Flushing. On the national list, both of the high schools were included in the top 100, Brooklyn Tech at number 22 and Brooklyn Latin School at number 66.

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Façade installation nears completion in Greenpoint

Façade installation is nearing completion at One Bell Slip, a 31-story residential tower in Greenpoint. The building, designed by Handel Architects and developed by Brookfield Property Partners and Park Tower Group, will contain 413 apartments. The project is located at the corner of Bell Slip and Commercial Street along the Newtown Creek and is part of the Greenpoint Landing riverfront development, according to New York YIMBY.

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Fire in City Line area

A two-alarm fire broke out at a home on Crescent Street in the City Line area in Brooklyn on Thursday morning, according to ABC7. The fire broke out around 5:30 a.m. Heavy smoke was coming from the building, multiple FDNY units were on the scene, and firefighters were working to keep the blaze from spreading to nearby buildings. There were no reports of injuries.

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Brooklyn man missing for a week

A 61-year-old man from Brownsville has been missing for more than a week, and police are seeking the public’s help. Steward Dillon was last seen in front of his home on Prospect Place between Saratoga Avenue and Thomas S. Boyland Street on Tuesday, April 20, police said. He was reported missing the following Monday. Police said Dillon is about 5-foot-10, weighs 200 pounds and has gray hair, according to Patch.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.