Cameras Didn’t Stop the Speeding, Gounardes

If you live in Bay Ridge, you hear the cars racing at night.

Many have reported this to Councilman Brannan, but that hasn’t changed anything. People continue to break the law because no one is watching – the coast is clear.

Winnie Hu reported in the New York Times that speeding has increased since the pandemic started. (See here)     There were 24,765 speeding tickets on March 27, up from 12,672 tickets issued daily a month earlier, according to city data. Brannan is mentioned in the article talking about the speeding as if it is a band. He refers to the street racing as a lullaby.  

NYC Council Speaker, Corey Johnson said he wants to raise the fines for speeding. That isn’t going to stop people in Bay Ridge because they know which cameras are monitoring them. 

Not one Bay Ridge politician ever said they will put law enforcement on the street.  All they offer is more fines. Andrew Gounardes told parents in Dyker Heights that he was going to make the streets safer – he didn’t.

If the 68th Precinct is unable to do anything, why can’t the politicians hire former police officers to get the area under control?

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CAIPA Delivers Supplies to Hospitals During Coronavirus

These people are heroes in Brooklyn and NYC. CAIPA brought supplies to hospitals. Their actions were quiet, but their work is powerful!   See story

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Free Meals in Dyker Heights – Grab and Go

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Police Nab Thief 82nd Street and 14th Avenue

There was way too much action in Dyker Heights this week!

Around 10:00 pm tonight, the NYPD chased a thief and was able to catch up with him on 14th Avenue and 82nd Street.  The police arrested the thief after the chase.  

Police Activity @CitizenApp

14th Ave & 82nd St 9:55:38 PM EDT

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RIP John Logue Sr – Former Owner of Hinch’s

John Logue, Sr. passed away peacefully on April 8th in Florida (this was not related to the coronavirus). 

John was 87 years old.  See here

I knew John Logue since I was a child. He was the owner of the ice cream empire….errr I mean some luncheonette’s in Bay Ridge. My uncle (a priest) would bring me to Once Upon a Sunday, Logue’s  and Hinch’s when he was in town. Once Upon a Sunday is now the Danish Organic Store (7702 3rd Ave.), Logue’s is now Anapoli’s (6920 3rd Ave.)  and Hinch’s is now Stewart’s (8518 5th Avenue).

I thought John Hinch had the best job in the world and always looked forward to seeing him!

John was a kind man and a great person.  People shared their memories of him here.

Prayers for the Logue Family (nicest people ever), especially  John Logue Jr., who owned and worked at Hinch’s while I was an adult.  

RIP John.

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Costco’s Line Wraps Around The Building

This is the line at Costco in Sunset Park right now pic.twitter.com/YWclqIVVoh

— Yoav Gonen (@yoavgonen) April 15, 2020

Play the video.
 

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Son Stabbed Father in Dyker Heights

A beautiful Dyker Heights home at 1362 – 84th Street was sectioned off with yellow tape because a Imad “Albert” Ahmad was murdered there.

The police said that the man’s son ran up to them and said that his father was hurt.

The newspaper stated that the 26 year-old son, Khaled Ahmad stabbed his 57 year-old father to death in Dyker Heights early this morning.  See here     

Albert Ahmad was a grocery store owner. He recently sold his business in the Rockaways. His death sounds horrific. 

RIP Albert Ahmad.

Prayers for Albert’s family!

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La Sorrentina Restaurant Moved to the Rockaways

Many people were sad to see the FOR RENT sign on La Sorrentina Restaurant on the corner of 11th Avenue and 66th Street in Dyker Heights. Later in the day, the owner posted the above message on Facebook.

We’re going to miss the family and staff that everyone came to know!

The family opened a new restaurant in the Rockaways in the Fall. The new place is called Plum Tomatoes by La Sorrentina.  It’s beautiful – go visit them!

If you miss La Sorrentina’s food,  take a ride out to the Rockaways and visit them!

If you are hungry for Italian right away and you are near there, head to Mama Rao’s on the next block – 6408 11th Avenue.

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Table at the Entrance of Foodtown in Bay Ridge

Foodtown’s Photo

Foodtown was the first store in the area to offer seniors a shopping hour at the start of the day. Foodtown was also the first in our area to put up plexiglass around the registers.

Now Foodtown has set up a table in the entrance with mask and gloves.

A dollar donation is requested for  the mask. The donation will be given to the hospital workers at Brooklyn Veterans Hospital to help them through this stressful time. 

Foodtown is doing a good job at helping people shop safely.

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Deno Vourderis is Printing Face Shields

Deno Vourderis, owner of Deno’s Wonderwheel Amusement Park in Coney Island is printing face shields for healthcare works on a 3d printer.

That is so awesome!!  Story here.

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50 Deaths in NYCDOE from Coronavirus

It’s strange how the news has been highlighting the careers of many people who died from coronavirus, but they didn’t mention many educators. Dez-Ann Romain‘s life story was told because she was the first DOE employee. This is such sad news for school communities!  Story here   

21 Teachers

21 Paraprofessionals 

2 Administrators

2 Central Office Employees

1 Facilities Staffer

1 Guidance Counselor 

1 Food Service Worker

The teachers union started to share their stories here.

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Gounardes’ Mental Health Townhall

Senator Andrew Gounardes held a virtual “Health Townhall” on Zoom.  See here

The goal was to discuss grief, fear, financial anxiety and isolation. Did it do that? Four people stated some general information about anxiety or being alone….that’s not a townhall.

The format for a townhall is quite different, but I guess Senator Gounardes wanted to check-off that he had townhall meeting. Doesn’t anyone that works in his office know what a townhall meeting is?  Why wouldn’t someone tell him that he was just have an information session, not a townhall? 

Update: Comments left here say that this was a webinar.

The two speakers were: 

1) Matt Kudish, Executive Director of NAMI NYC-Metro (National Alliance for Mental Illness). NAMI  provides education and advocacy for people with mental health issues. Kadish’s big push was: The stress you are feeling is valid. Reach out to your treatment provider when you need to talk to someone.”   NAMI has a free helpline from Monday to Friday:   212-684-3264

2) Dr. Nicoletta Pallotta, MD, LCSW founder of Brooklyn Counseling Service. BCS has several locations in Brooklyn. They do free group counseling on their website.

Why didn’t Gounardes invite someone from THRIVE NYC?  NYC invested so much money setting up Thrive.

Senator Gounardes asked if group therapy on Zoom was helpful? Dr. Pallotta said it was good for people, who are grieving to share their experience. 

Councilman Brannan asked about what parents, who are spending all day with their families, should do. Both experts suggested that they should talk with others,  but were vague on where parents could get help.  It was almost like the speakers weren’t aware of the question before the discussion.

Kusish thought NAMI’s website had something for parents, but there wasn’t anything online. Strangely, they have online groups, but parent support wasn’t one of them.

NAMI-NYC’s website has this meeting, but it wasn’t mentioned.

The last topic Gounardes asked was about the Asian community receiving negative comments/about over the coronavirus. Matt said that is trauma and anyone who experiences that should seek therapy for that so they can move on from it.  Dr. Pallotta said that many Asian people don’t reach out for therapy, but they should seek help.

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