Sanitation Driver Pinned and Killed

A DCPI report just came in that a sanitation truck driver was killed after being crushed between his truck and parked cars, while attempting to stop the vehicle from rolling down the street. He had exited the truck without switching the engine off, and had climbed atop the vehicle to try and stop it from rolling.

The driver was a white male, 52, and has yet to be identified. He was taken to Woodhull Hospital, where he pronounced dead on arrival.

The accident took place on Lexington Avenue, between Franklin and Classon.

Crime is Back

Is it Michael Bloomberg or the economy? The Daily News has an opinion piece that faults Bloomberg for not addressing rising crime rates in New York City.

In Brooklyn‘s 71st Precinct, which covers southern Crown Heights, murders are up 40% this year compared with 2007, contributing to a 35% increase in murders across southern Brooklyn.

Remember the shopkeeper who turned around an attempted robbery on his store by wrestling the gun away from the perpetrators and killing two of them? And then in Bed-Stuy, there was the recent stabbing of an MTA bus driver.

Thomas was senselessly stabbed to death while piloting a bus through Bedford-Stuyvesant, one of the neglected neighborhoods suffering horrific outbreaks of violence.

And those aren’t even the most drastic numbers; Queens South crime rates have soared 69%.

Gentrificaiton or Not?

For years many have been predicting that Bed-Stuy will be the next target of full-blown gentrification in Brooklyn. But despite all the talk, the neighborhood is still a work-in-progress.

The New York Times takes the recent opening of T-Cup Cafe, which launched three months ago on Throop Avenue, to show how Bed-Stuy, with its more affordable rents and rash of independent coffee shops, is still a place that can’t seem to shake its old reputation. There’s been a recent spate of crimes, including a shooting of a 14-year-old boy and a bus driver stabbed to death.

Perhaps what will push Bed-Stuy towards becoming the next Park Slope will not be new families fleeing higher rents in other parts of Manhattan or Brooklyn, but rather old Bed-Stuy residents returning to fill the neighborhood’s retail gaps, with a desire to strenghten the community they grew up in. The Times article features two such examples, and that’s precisely the reason Crystal Bob-Semple gave me back in the summer about why she opened up Brownstone Books, a successful bookstore that features African-American titles.

Bed-Stuy’s Gay Scene Faces Gentrification

Sputnik, a club venue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, is emerging as a haven for Bed-Stuy’s gay residents who don’t want to trek all the way to Williamsburg for a night of dancing. While times are surely changing, Prop 8 did recently pass in notoriously liberal and gay-friendly California. Surprisingly, opposition in this Brooklyn neighborhood is coming from within. The established but underground gay stronghold in Bed-Stuy, typically comprising “homothugs” and nonwhites, has complained of gentrification. Newcomers are always a scary thing, but it seems like they’re going to party through it.

The Boxing Chabad

Check out this short clip of Dimitry Salita, a Chabad Lubavitch Jewish boxer who lives in Crown Heights. In a month, he’ll be fighting in Madison Square Garden. “There’s no difference between boxing and Judaism,” he says.

Financial Crisis Stalls Green Housing in Bed-Stuy

The greening of Bed-Stuy was halted before it even began, thanks to the financial crisis. The Nzinga Townhouses–modular, environmentally friendly homes–have gone through final stages of design, engineering, and bidding. But since the financial crisis has hit, the developer has been left in the lurch, unable to secure financing to begin building.

Imagine balconies with planting beds through which rain water feeds the plants, which then grow to provide summer shade, privacy, and photosynthesis. Other innovative features include low-temperature condensing boilers, solar thermal hot water systems, and double roofs for increased insulation.

The homes, if they ever come online, are priced at around $1 million or more, “which is a lot of money,” admits architect James Garrison. But “it’s really quite affordable considering what all is available,” he says. For now, the 5,000 square-foot patch of land near the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza, at Herkimer Street and New York Avenue, remains empty.

Beer for Barack

Get ready for the last push. Brooklyn for Barack has convinced local Brooklyn bars to provide discounted drink specials to all Obama volunteers between now until election day. All you need to do is get out there and hit the phone lines. I’m guessing lots of calls are going out to Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri. There are three places to imbibe in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. See you there?

After Years of Bullying, Man Retaliates

The New York Times leads this sad story uncomfortably close to “a man walks into a bar,” considering it involves a murder.

Joe Seals, 64, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, was convicted of the second-degree murder of Robert Ellis, a bouncer at a local bar. Seals, a regular at Sportsman’s Athletic Club over the years, admittedly shot Ellis in the face in front of a bar full of people.

During the trial, Seals claimed self-defense from years of bullying and harassment by bar patrons. He testified to repeated mockery for his financial situation and romantic and personal life. Prosecutors argued that murder wasn’t a justifiable defense against bullying, and the judge agreed. Seals will serve a maximum 15-year sentence.

Drug Bust in Bed-Stuy

Twenty-one drug dealers, two handguns, four shootings, and 200-plus bags of crack. After a year-long investigation, the NYPD struck down on a ring of thugs that had been terrorizing local residents at the Kingsborough Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where they held their operations.

Police were tipped off after receiving fearful letters from residents. Read more in the NY Daily News.

Soup Restaurant Arrives Just in Time for Winter

No, not soup kitchen. A real, bonafide soup restaurant may be arriving in the dead of recession time, all the way from Guyana. So says Stabroek News about German’s, a local Tiger Bay restaurant specializing in soups. Rumor has it that they’re looking to open up shop right on Church Avenue in Crown Heights, where there’s a large Caribbean presence.

I guess securing financing, $130,000 of it, isn’t as hard in Guyana these days as it is in New York City.

The managing director of the Tiger Bay location says they’re aiming for a Christmas-time opening. Something to bring a little warmth and cheer to this coal-in-a-stocking holiday season, perhaps.