Open Thread Wednesday 9/17/08

By on September 17, 2008 8:42 am in Brooklyn Heights

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

BHB Photo Club of parachuting 9/11 tribute  skydivers by fkuffel

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  • Publius

    I’m curious to learn how/if the recent Wall St. meltdown is affecting our neighbors and neighborhood.

    My sympathies are with people who are directly affected by the recent Bear, Lehman disasters.

    My sympathies are also with our country for our politicial structure allowing the situation get so bad.

    Just in case you thought we’re actually living in a free market economy, the Fed now owns an insurance company! How many other teetering companies will be nationalized?

  • Alex

    Does anyone here attend the First Unitarian Church on Monroe? I’m new to the neighborhood and haven’t yet transfered my loyalties from All Souls on the Upper East Side, but I’d love to hear more about why the First Unitarian Church is great from long-time members…

  • Emil-PhaZeemma

    My downstairs neighbor is a chain smoker who starts puffing away at dawn and closes Chez Cancer way past bedtime — sometimes at 2am.

    I truly believe the person is addicted to having a “lit” cigarette lying about their home like an incense. Do they asleep with the cigarettes burning?

    I open my windows for fresh cool air, the cigarette smoke drifts in. I close my windows, and a faint smell of burning cigarette drifts through the walls.

    Is there a law to help with this? (I’m trying hard to keep things neighborly civil).

  • Kathleen

    Does anyone have any information about the stop-work order at the Love Lane condo project?

  • Tony

    Henry Street Car Service Strikes Again!

    On Labor Day morning at about 10 am, my wife was struck and injured by a car owned by Heights Car & Limo while attempting to cross Henry Street at Orange. It was very quiet on the street and she looked to the direction of traffic, saw that no-one was coming and stepped out. At that moment, a Lincoln Continental driven by Youssef Greiss backed in to her, causing numerous cuts, bruises and abrasions and more severely, a fractured pelvis and a scalp wound that required 16 metal staples. To add insult to injury, the driver insisted that she had walked into the back of his car, breaking the light and putting a dent in the trunk. I should add that this is a 5ft 3in 57-year-old-preschool teacher, not Wonder Woman! The police were furious at the obvious lie but they couldn’t get the driver to change his story.

    There was a women who helped her who left the scene without leaving her name, and probably a few others who may have seen this accident. If you were a witness, please email contact information to this address: sarasaccident@gmail.com .

    We would like to add that the police, EMT’s and the staff of the Long Island College Hospital ER were terrific. We were in the ER until the early evening and she received excellent care as confirmed by subsequent doctor assessments.

  • Gurple

    My neighbors across the hall from us are in an abusive relationship. Police have been called twice after neighbors, us included, heard the guy hitting the woman. The first time cops came and took him away, only for him to return that evening. The second time, the woman told cops “there is no problem, we were only arguing”. The worst part is that another neighbor of ours reported that both the woman and guy in question called him a “snitch” under their breath while they were all in the hall together, assuming that he was the one calling the cops on them. I’m not sure how to proceed here and was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how they dealt with it?

  • ratNYC

    Sometime this summer the left turn from Tillary St into the Brooklyn Bridge was shut down, forcing traffic going to Manhattan to take Prospect st in Dumbo to enter the Brooklyn bridge (or go past the BB crossing on Tillary and make a u turn). Traffic going to Manhattan (lots of taxis) used to drive on Clinton/Tillary on their way to the bridge, now I’ve noticed there ar more taxis, and more traffic, on Hicks. Has any one else noticed a change in the traffic pattern in the neighborhood recently?

  • Re: Gurple

    My guess is that you are an anonymous tipster to the cops — otherwise the couple would not be hissing “snitch”at the wrong guy.

    There’s basically nothing much you can do — especially if both parties declare that nothing is wrong.

    You can notify the landlord of the situaton. Maybe lease renewal can bring closure to this troublesome two — but be prepared to come into the public with your claim if/when the landlord leaks this complaint.

  • http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/37/31_37_sp_gristedes.html Hank75

    More about the “new and improved” Gristedes

  • Hank75
  • Nancy

    But the prices will “stay low” at Gristede’s???? When were they ever low? Without fail, they always charged more than Key Food did for the exact same items Well, hopefully they got the dead chicken smell out of there.

  • JJD

    Gristedes: The renovated store will carry more organic and healthier foods, and have a larger produce section — but prices will stay low, Castimatidis, a mayoral hopeful, told The Brooklyn Paper.

    ROFL. What I consider overpriced comparing the same product to other stores he calls “prices will stay low”?

  • HDEB

    Cars stink, ride a bike!

  • Re: Kathleen (Love Lane)

    The construction site has been slapped with a “stop work” order due to several safety violations. One deals with an exposed roof that is allegedly causing timber beams to “rot” due to the elements. There are also concerns regarding the methods used to brace the facade and floors during construction.

    These items will be discussed at an early October hearing.

  • LAS2381

    Anyone see someone steal a Giant OCR 2 from Henry St between Atlantic and Pacific. It was locked up. looks like this http://ihaveabike.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/giant-ocr2-2006.jpg
    except it also had aerobars on it.

  • luvtheheights

    To address the people with the smoke issues: We also have a downstairs neighbor who is a smoker (and an a**hole too)! We contacted our lawyer and he said there wasn’t much you can do. It is crazy to think that we, as their upstairs neighbors have to put rugs down so we don’t disturb our downstairs neighbors, but when it comes to the smoke, they can do what they want. There is a new trend of buildings going smoke-free – which is perfectly legal. I am going to bring it up with our co-op board. I am going to call 311 to see if they have any advice. There is a group called NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free city. Their website is under contruction, but when it is back up I am going to contact them too.

  • mc

    About the Love Lane construction:
    Do you know the date, time, place of the October hearing? My backyard abuts part of their project, and I’ve witnessed unsafe demolition, damage to neighboring properties, and changes that would seem to violate the landmark status of some of the structures. They (the Zucker Group) have been lousy neighbors who have completely failed to notify owners of adjacent properties about work that affects those properties. I would love to air my concerns at the hearing, if it’s public.

  • T.K. Small

    To the people suffering from second hand smoke, I just remembered an article in the New York Times. After a little searching, I was able to find the link. The comments are also interesting. Hope this helps!

    http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/second-hand-smoke-at-the-ansonia-prompts-lawsuit/?scp=19&sq=Smoking%20litigation&st=cse

  • http://behearbenow.blogspot.com walkerdad

    Anyone else notice a sudden uptick in the aggressiveness of the NYPD tow trucks in the neighborhood? Yesterday, my wife had returned from taking our one-year-old to the doctor and parked (illegally, but with her flashers on – which traditionally has always been okay) in front of our building on Orange Street, to run up to our apartment so our 5-year-old could get a snack before they parked the car and went to the playground. When she got downstairs – no car, and a tow truck pulling away. To add insult to injury, when she finally got the car out of the pound, the battery had died because the flashers had been left on.
    Is this the plan to make up for the sudden loss of Wall Street money? It stinks.

  • towtruck

    Walkerdad: Not sure why you blame the tow truck driver for this or the evil plan to make up for the loss of Wall St money. You even admit to doing something illegally and basically you/your wife paid for it. It doesnt stink. Stop trying to beat the system.

    From what I have seen there is no difference in towing. They still have their favorite spots for pickups and the only thing saving you from towing is the police/surgeon/DA permit on the dashboard. Maybe you should move to Pierrepont Street.

  • PJL

    Agreed, though it would be nice if the level of police presence matched the number of people giving tickets/towing cars… the decrease is noticeable (as is the rise in petty crime) since I moved into the area a few years ago. Our tax dollars at work….

  • ABC

    I park on Pierrepont and wouldn’t DARE stop with blinkers on to get a snack. I have RUN upstairs to drop off groceries –in the lobby, not upstairs — and gotten a ticket. I don’t even do that anymore. I only leave the car if I have an adult sitting it in, and I only do that for moments.

    Of course, the street is otherwise lined with cars with bullshit placards.

  • p

    I went to Spicy Pickle for the first time yesterday. SO gross.