Brooklyn Heights Blog

Archive | November, 2006

Brokeback Bocce

by Homer Fink on 30. Nov, 2006 in Celebrity Residents, Sports

Our fellow Floyd NY bocce playing pal, Jim from If You Want My Bocce blogs today about their pickup game last night at our fave nabe bocce bar. But they bury the lead — ACTUAL MOVIE STAR/Cobble Hill neighbor Heath Ledger checked out the action.

If You Want My Bocce: By this point, unusual things were happening around the court. For one, I came this close to titling this post "Brokebocce Mountain": Hot Legs was not the only HL in attendance, as Heath Ledger was there with some friends. Beth and I were referring to this whole group of people who seemed to be with him, but I'm not sure if they all were, as "the Australians." I only know for sure that this one other dude we played against was an Aussie. I didn't hear anybody else talk.

Heath told me that he was there to research a role for a movie based on a true story. Giuseppe Frappatoli was a bocce champion in 1920s Italy who lost his rolling arm in an agricultural accident, then his wealthy and beautiful fiancee left him because she didn't want a one-armed husband. With a grueling course of training overseen by a grizzled old mentor named Silvio Bertucci, he learned to use his other arm, fell in love with a sweet, poor, one-eyed girl, and won a bocce gold medal in the 1928 Olympics (it was an exhibition sport).

OK, I made all that up. I didn't talk to Heath, but Love Touch was excited to be told by him that she has a "delicate touch." Her nickname fits! I was hoping we would get to play against him, but apparently it was taking too long to get to where he was on the list, so he went home. Hopefully he will be back another time, as he seemed like a nice guy. While I was trying maybe too conspicuously to not look directly at him, I did catch him clapping for me and LT out of the corner of my eye, and that was exciting.

In other Bocce news, BHB's Homer Fink's Brigate Bocce plays its last game of the season Sunday (12/3) at 1pm. Come out and root for us.

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Holiday Heights

by Mrs. Fink on 29. Nov, 2006 in News

First Presbyterian Church, Henry Street.

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The Master Watchmaker of Brooklyn Heights

by Homer Fink on 29. Nov, 2006 in News

The New York Daily News reports today on the only master watchmaker in Brooklyn, the nabe's Hartley Satnick.

New York Daily News: This Master Executes His Job Like Clockwork: Satnick has been in Brooklyn Heights since 1960. He moved to his current site, 187 State St., in January, after a fitness club took over his former location on Joralemon St.

"My old place is a juice bar now," he said.

Although customers know Satnick can occasionally be gruff, especially when in the middle of a watch repair, they swear by him.

"I've never had any bad work. That's why I remember him," said Lenny Ming of Crown Heights.

Vicki Bernstein of Park Slope said, "I have watches that were chronically breaking. Mr. Satnick said I wasn't winding them properly. He could easily have charged me money. But there was no charge and they've been running properly for six years.

"He's a man of integrity," Bernstein added, "even at the expense of his own wallet."

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BBP Foes Lose Lawsuit

by Homer Fink on 28. Nov, 2006 in News

Brooklyn Papers reports that the Brooklyn State Supreme Court has ruled against nabe opponents of the development of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Brooklyn Papers: Brooklyn Bridge "Park" Opponents Lose Lawsuit: In a 22-page decision handed down Tuesday, Brooklyn State Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Knipel dismissed the opponents’ charge that the Empire State Development Corporation broke the law when it added shops, restaurants, a hotel and 1,210 condos to a plan for a 1.3-mile public park stretching 1.3 miles along the waterfront from the Manhattan Bridge to the foot of Atlantic Avenue.

The state says it needs private development to generate $15 million annually to pay for upkeep of the development’s 77-acres.

The ruling is not unexpected. At a pre-trial hearing in August Knipel had questioned the legal merits of the suit.

“I can see policy reasons for not putting these buildings next to a park. But why legally?” he asked.

In Tuesday’s decision, Knipel also dismissed the claim that the state’s plan didn’t take a “a hard look” at the impact the new residential development would have on traffic and infrastructure in the area.

Judi Francis, one of several Brooklyn Heights residents who filed the suit, said Tuesday that she planned to appeal.

“As we have said from the beginning the critical fight is in the appellate division is sitting in Brooklyn a few blocks away from this site — the so-called ‘park’,” she said.

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Welcome to the Nabe: Sean T. Conrad

by Homer Fink on 28. Nov, 2006 in Brooklyn Heights

Blogger/web software guy/freelance writer Sean T. Conrad announced on his blog today that he'll be moving to Brooklyn Heights. Say hello to him now!

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Former TV Star Now Nabe Vocal Coach

by Homer Fink on 28. Nov, 2006 in Arts and Entertainment, Celebrity Residents

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports today on former local TV chat host Gwen Conley, who by many accounts was on the same Star Track as Oprah Winfrey. She gave "it" all up for life outside of the public eye, but one that has been no less fulfilling. She's currently a vocal coach here in Brooklyn Heights.

Cincinnati Enquirer: The Star Who Vanished: Though Conley's visibility lessened, she never completely left the entertainment world. Today, prospering as a self-employed vocal coach in New York's Brooklyn Heights, she reflects on "Feelings" with mixed emotions.

"When I look back, I was on the cutting edge of all these talk shows," Conley said. "I was a pioneer, and it being new, we could have ridden that to the moon. If I'd had more business sense I'd probably have milked it more. That's not sour grapes, it's just objective.

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Parents Say Nabe Kid Addicted to Internet

by Homer Fink on 26. Nov, 2006 in News

Kids of being coming increasingly addicted to the Internet, claims a story in today’s New York Daily News. One of the “addicted” is a Brooklyn Heights pre-teen.

New York Daily News: The Curse of Internet Addiction: When Nathan turned 11, his parents bought him his first computer, to keep in his bedroom in their Brooklyn Heights townhouse. They thought it would help with his schoolwork and foster a sense of discovery. Three months later, his grades began slipping, he was less and less social and he was sleeping less than six hours a night. He was up at night, roaming on the Internet. The computer, his well-intentioned parents decided, had to go. Nathan is only one of countless adolescents who suffer from Internet addiction, letting hours slip away unnoticed while using E-mail, chatting via instant messages and surfing the Web. While the Internet is a powerful and useful tool, it comes with a heavy responsibility, one that parents must bear in mind…Once Nathan’s computer was gone from his room, “I sent him outside to play and said he wasn’t allowed to come home until he was exhausted,” his mother says. “I was so sick of seeing him inside, on the computer playing games, I would do anything to change that behavior.” It may not be the popular choice, Willard concedes, but “limiting your child’s electronic use and pushing peer interaction is the first positive step.”

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Cadman Plaza Astroturf: This is Beautification?

by Homer Fink on 25. Nov, 2006 in Development, News

The "beautification" of Cadman Plaza Park has begun as documented above by nabe blogger Twofones. The plan to renovate the park's "dustbowl" by laying down artificial turf was initially opposed by the Brooklyn Heights Association, but on its website, the BHA praises Parks Department officials for their "commitment" to the project. The project does sound promising, despite the turf (aka worst idea ever?). City Councilman David Yassky was the major advocate for phony grass, which is said to have been the only option on a plot of land that reportedly hasn't been able to sustain real grass for decades.

Opponents of the project claim that the public park is just a "private park for rich kids paid for by taxpayers."

According to the BHA website:

The current design for the area includes plans to level the central playing area and replace the dust bowl with Astroturf. In addition, new running paths will curve between the four rows of sycamores; special seating areas with new benches will provide shady areas for rest and watching the more athletic. New lower-canopy flowering trees will edge the Astroturf. The flagpoles will move to the War Memorial plaza, and the paths around the turf will be at acute angles, making the view across the turf more interesting.

Later phases of the project will rebuild the north end, between the Brooklyn Bridge and the War Memorial, and the area to the south, including the area opposite the Post Office between Tillary Street and Columbus Park.

The BHA is working with various federal agencies to expand the fenced perimeter of the park with the ultimate goal of keeping all vehicles (except for maintenance vehicles) out of the park. Recently, Congressman Ed Towns and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez jointly applied for an appropriation from the Homeland Security Agency to fund the extra security. In addition, the BHA is exploring the possibility of a Cadman Plaza Park Conservancy, which will raise dedicated funds for the upkeep and maintenance of the restored park.

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Hero Cops Honored for Nabbing Heights Hood

by Homer Fink on 24. Nov, 2006 in News

Two of New York's Finest were honored at the 84th Precinct's Community Council monthly meeting for their "extraordinary bravery" in the arrest of a suspect in an armed robbery on Middagh Street. The hero cops, Police Officers Moises Colon and Michael Titterton were given "Cop of the Month" honors by the 84th's Deputy Inspector Phillip Sferazza. PO Titterton, 26, also shared "Cop of the Month" recognition with PO Christopher Edwards in April 2005 after nailing two skells suspected of armed robbery near Hicks and Pineapple.

The Brooklyn Eagle describes how the bust went down: The two officers had been working their 4 p.m.-to-midnight tour of duty, patrolling their Brooklyn Heights sector, when they received a “radio run,” announcing an armed robbery of a pedestrian on Middagh Street in progress. Both officers went to an area they said would be “a likely escape route” instead of the scene of the robbery and once there, arrested an armed suspect. The officers conducted a canvass of the area and observed a male who fit the description,” Sferazza said. Colon and Titterton brought the suspect back to the stationhouse on Gold Street, where the victim of the armed mugging made a positive identification. Sferazza said the two officers, “Not only recovered a handgun, but they acted with restraint, displaying excellent tactics.” Sferazza praised the two young officers for “not going right to the spot” of the robbery, but by “figuring out the escape route” to apprehend the suspect, the two showed extraordinary police street smarts. “Bottom line is we got him off the streets,” Sferazza said. “He had some arrest record, and what he was doing is he was grabbing people as they walked home from work.”

Leslie Lewis, Brooklyn Beep Marty Markowitz' criminal justice liason, also recognized the Dynamic Duo's heroism with a special commendation for keeping our streets safe.

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