Sanctuary Church in Bay Ridge
The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church on the corner of 4th Avenue and Bay Ridge Parkway is a sanctuary church. Thank God for Christians who help others.
Find more sanctuary churches here.
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July 13, 2019The 3rd Avenue Bid – Some Strange Things
A group of people have been working on forming a BID (Business Improvement District) on Third Avenue. We know a decent amount about BIDs.
1) The 3rd Avenue Bid is having a community meeting 0n July 25th at 10:00 am or 7:00 pm. Most people are away that week. You can RSVP here. BUT why wouldn’t this group wait until the Fall to have this meeting?
2) The steering committee has property owners, business owners and people who rent property on the Avenue. There are no Asian women on the steering committee. Shouldn’t Justin Brannan and Andrew Gounardes’ representatives make sure that the steering committee matches the ethnic makeup of the merchants or at least includes one person to translate for all the stores (we have a lot of nail salons). See here. We hope this will be corrected (and we will update if it is corrected)
3) The steering committee meets during working store hours. This would limit who could be part of it. After work hours would be needed if they wanted a diverse group as newer owners would not be listed.
4) We are unsure why a writer for a local paper and a festival organizer were considered for this process, which will involved imposing a tax on commercial property owners. The festival organizer would profit from a BID. He should recuse himself as this is a property tax that isn’t going to go away.
5) The type of businesses represented by the steering committee appear to be real estate/banking. Why is this so disproportionate?
6) The business owners on the steering committee are mostly from large businesses. What about all the small shops that we love? If people are voting to raise the property tax of the buildings on 3rd Avenue, we want to know that the small shop owners and merchants see a benefit to this and aren’t just given another financial burden with no benefits.
7) The steering committee is composed of a lot more men than women. Is this proportionate to the number of proprietors on 3rd Avenue? We aren’t sure on this, but someone must have the numbers to share.
8) One member of the steering committee is listed as a property owner….but he’s a developer. Why isn’t his business listed?
9) The last thing that concerned us was that one member of the steering committee said:
“The Merchants can be a lobbying voice for political issues.” From prior elections, residents prefer that the merchants stay neutral on political issues if they don’t vote in this district. In the past, we actually have saw some merchants support politicians who gave tax breaks to developers in Manhattan….and not to small business owners in Bay Ridge.
While we think some members of the steering committee have the best intentions for Bay Ridge, we think a steereing committee that doesn’t represent the diversity of 3rd Avenue Merchants needs some fresh blood. We’ve watched so many loved businesses close their doors (see here) and we want to see businesses here thrive.
Councilman Brannan gave the BID $36,000 last Fall, so he knows what the Steering Committee looks like.
Brannan’s staffer is seen in pictures with the steering committee, so he knows who is on the committee as well.
The Third Avenue Merchants social media accounts are not helpful to the merchants. The Fifth Avenue Merchants do a great job of highlighting their shops and events (or at least sharing the great reviews and pictures from residents). Why can’t the Third Avenue Merchants give access to stores and not do flashbacks all the time? Highlight these stop owners and the great products and services they are selling!
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July 13, 2019Starbucks in Bay Ridge is Closed
Starbucks and 7419 – 3rd Avenue and Bay Ridge Pkwy is closed.
The sign above appeared on their door.
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July 13, 2019Con Edison Smart Meter Installation
Con Edison has Aclara Smart Grip Solutions installing meters in our area.
The smart meter will allow you to see your billing in hourly increments. I didn’t want to see my bill in hourly increments, so I just put it off.
Then Con Edison sent me a letter and threatened to fine me $100 if I didn’t make an appointment. Legally, I don’t think they should be able to do that, but they probably have some tiny print that says they should be able to access their meter when they want to.
Our appointment was for 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm. The day before, Con Ed called and asked if they could come between 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm. The technician arrived at 12:27 pm and was gone at 12:32 pm. The technician was in uniform and he showed his ID which was on a lanyard around his neck.
The technician went to the meter in the basement, took off the plastic cover, removed the old meter and replaced it with the new one. Will Con Edison charge more? Someone has to pay for Aclara to install all of these meters! If I see a change in our Con Edison, I’ll come back here and update.
In case you need to call to set up the appointment for your meter: 1-800-686-4207
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July 13, 2019Mac Makeup Coming to Century 21 Store
Century’s put up a sign that Mac Makeup is coming to their store. Century 21 is at 472 86th Street.
Great idea by Century’s, as some people really love Mac and this makes them competitive with the new Sephora store that will be moving in soon. (See here)
The 86th Street shopping area is going to come alive once Sephora moves in.
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July 13, 2019Twice the Price for Nathan’s – YIKES!
The Brooklyn Reporter shared that Nathan’s at 650 86th Street was purchased by Tim Ziss of Allied Properties for $12.25 million in October 2018. See the article (Link stopped working -> see a screenshot of the article here)
In June 2019, the building was sold for $25 million. YIKES! #SomethingIsntRightHere
While the neighborhood needs a new middle school, paying double was not good.
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July 13, 2019Ragamuffin Parade in Bay Ridge 2019
When is the Ragamuffin Parade in Bay Ridge? What time does the Ragamuffin Parade begin? What streets is the raggamuffin parade on?
See videos from 9/28/19 here
Saturday, September 28, 2019 is the date for the Ragamuffin Day Parade. See all Fall Festivals in Bay Ridge here
Registration begins at 11:00 am. Here’s the form. The parade starts at 12:30 pm at 76th Street and 3rd Avenue.
The parade goes from 76th Street to 92nd Street on 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge.
Any child can participate in the parade – there is no cost. Your child only has to register if you want their costume to be judged and to get a small toy (all the kids get a favor type toy….you may not think it’s anything, but kids love that stuff – so think like a kid).
What type of costumes do kids have? Some children have homemade costumes that are very involved, some have costumes they bought at Walgreens or a costume store. Many parents offer old costumes to people in the neighborhood. Some kids wear their jeans or shorts and a funny shirt and/or hat. There is no required type of costume…If your child doesn’t have a costume, they can still walk in the parade.
The people who run the event are amazing – they collect prizes and do a lot of planning for this event.
You don’t have to have a group to walk with, you can just walk with your child. Some people walk with their church groups, family, the people on their block, etc.
This is just a fun, community day in Bay Ridge – come out and enjoy the day!
I love seeing the homemade costumes, but I’ve never seen anything like this at our parade:
This Grandfather and Grandson walking and dancing is the best thing you’ll see today ?????? pic.twitter.com/Vsbho9mJrh
— Akki (@akkitwts) August 26, 2019
See here for info on The Third Avenue Festival
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July 12, 2019Xaverian Alumni List Shared List of Brothers
In the Spring, Catholic churches in Brooklyn and the Diocese of Brooklyn Office shared lists like this online and in their weekly bulletins.
Very sad, but they seem to be going out of their way in being transparent.
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July 12, 2019Best Stores for Baptism Dresses, Gowns and Suits in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Where can I buy a beautiful baptism gown for my daughter?
Bay Ridge does not have a lot of stores for Christening dresses and suits. It has:
- Little Lords and Little Ladies – 8217 5th Avenue (also have white suits for the boys) 718-748-4366
Sunset Park Stores with Baptism Dress and Baptism Suit Stores
- Angels World moved to 5424 5th Avenue 718-765-1300 between 54th and 55th Street and 5th Avenue – reasonable prices, bibs, shoes, etc.
- Kids Stop 4512 5th Avenue 718-633- 2611 – lace gowns
- Nathaly’s Bridal 4902 5th Avenue (Corner of 49th Street) 718- 765- 4242
Other Brooklyn Stores which sell Baptism Gowns and Suits
- La Bavetta 8224 – 13th Avenue (they used to be on 18th Avenue) They sell the long lace ones for around $200 718-234-2698
- Lester’s on Avenue U
- Cookies in 510 Fulton Street i Downtown Brooklyn
- Bertos – Flatbush Avenue – has 24 and 2T christening outfits
- Babies R Us in Brooklyn has some (Cesar’s Bay Shopping area) – larger selection online
Staten Island Baptism Outfit Stores
- Peek a Boo at 133 New Dorp Lane
- In the Staten Island Mall, there is a kiosk called Mays and a lot of people get gorgeous gowns there. Mays used to be a store in Sunset Park that everyone visited – good prices. The booth is near the store called Teavana.
- There used to a Staten Island kiosk inwhich people would get customized items for the christening. They are no longer in the mall, but rather an online shop.
- Country Mouse Children’s Clothing Store at 570 Forest Ave, Staten Island
- Suzanne’s on Forest and Bement Avenue.
- Born Yesterday Children’s Clothes 4255 Amboy Road 718-317-0700
- Once Upon A Child 2305 Richmond Ave (718) 370-3006 this is a second hand store, but baptism attire that is just worn for a few hours one day so the suits and dresses they have are close to new and are around $20
Long Island Stores with Baptism Dresses
Online Baptismal Outfits and Suit Stores
- JC Penney’s baptism gowns, suits, short sets & shoes for reasonable prices – plus there are always codes you can use!
- Amazonhas a large selection of christening gowns and outfits, bibs and binkies too.
- Macys has baptism dresses
- Etsy has a lot of unique and custom made christening outfits. A lot of people go here for something unique like rhinestone bottom baby shoes – see here
- Baby Beau and Belle has nice stuff
- Jo in Brooklyn does the baby’s initials in crystals on shoes, socks and bibs too.
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July 12, 2019Standard Burger Lunch Specials
See burgers here. They have a veggie burger too.
Standard Burger is at 8812 3rd Avenue.
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July 11, 2019Storytime at Christ Church in Bay Ridge 7/14
The Girl Scouts at Christ Church will have Storytime on July 14th. Kids can bring short poems to recite (but don’t have to). There will be crafts and giveaways from 12:00 – 2:00 pm!
This Girl Scout troup is amazing and so are the women who lead these troops.
They built a Little Free Library that sits outside of Christ Church!
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July 11, 2019Skinflints – Bay Ridge Happy Hour
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