Articles on Murder Show Lack of Real Estate Geography

The New York Times recently declared the Columbia Street Waterfront District an "up and coming neighborhood". However, apparently the New York Post never got the memo:

"Tajeme Sylvester, 31, a native of Jamaica and a Fordham University grad, was found shot in the head and chest at 5:45 p.m. yesterday inside the Lotus Temple of Visions Gallery on Summit Street near Hamilton Avenue, an artists enclave in Red Hook."

I hope they catch this guy, and when they do, they note that Summit Street is most assuredly not in Red Hook.

Leaky Lines

Ever the purveyors of classy lines, the Brooklyn Paper comes up with another one to describe some local thieves.

"The victim told cops that she was on her way home between Henry and Hicks streets at around 2:15 pm when she noticed she was being followed by two men.

Once she arrived at her building, one of the men said he “needed to check the water” in her apartment.

Once inside, one man led the victim to the bathroom, where he insisted that she flush the toilet and run the shower. When the slimy duo left, the victim noticed the missing cash and jewelry."

Sounds like they could get "sent up the river"...or maybe they're all washed up?

Maybe They Should Drown the Cats?

Residents of Second Place have been "terrorized" lately by roving packs of wild cats. At least, according to the Brooklyn Paper:

"A rogue band of cats is on the prowl on Second Place, stalking exotic fish, threatening pet pigeons — and raising the blood pressure of the animal lover who owns the veritable menagerie.

“It’s very frustrating — I’m always worried about them attacking my fish and birds,” said Sal “The Birdman” Raimondi, the proud owner of 10 shimmering Japanese koi swimming in a $25,000 display in his front garden, and over 100 plump Canadian pigeons that he raises in custom-crafted coops in his backyard.

The problem has gotten worse over the past few months, when cats began to perch themselves beside Raimondi’s koi pond, licking their chops at the chance to get at a seafood dinner.

“They’re staring at our fish pond like they want to get them,” said Nancy Lograsso, Sal’s girlfriend.

And there’s reason to worry. Neighborhood cats have a history of violence: about five years ago, cats killed 12 of Raimondi’s pigeons."

If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that we need to bring back pigeon coops. Take it away, keyboard cat...

You Stay Classy, Marco Polo

A ruckus outside of Marco Polo on Saturday night, probably viewed ironically by passing hipsters. From the Brooklyn Paper:

"Police were called to the famed Carroll Gardens eatery at the corner of Union Street at 12:30 am after several guests attending the party began fighting with each other.

As the squabble spilled out into the street, cops grabbed four men, ranging in age from 26 to 53, charging them with disorderly conduct.

All four were given criminal court summonses and sent home, said a source inside the 76th Precinct, adding that no one was throwing punches when officers arrived, but the group flat out refused to disperse.

Three of the men arrested were from Staten Island. The fourth was from Bensonhurst, they said. One was the man whose daughter is about to walk down the aisle."

Though my favorite quote comes later in the article, from an "eyewitness":

"“They were all behaving like unflattering stereotypes about certain Italian-Americans. It was very interesting to watch and we spent at least five minutes observing from across the street.”"

Does that sound like something that was translated into Spanish, then into Italian, then into Portugese, and then back into English?

Gowanus Drug Boss Sent Away for Attempting to Assassinate...The Carroll Gardens Diary?

Scary stuff from Courier Life about a drug boss in the Gowanus Houses:

"Price was ordered to spend the rest of his life behind bars on May 14 after being convicted of racketeering, murder and four attempted murders — all of which were planned from his drug-dealing domain inside the Gowanus Houses.

Officials said that Price, his brother Robert and uncle Eddie Pressley, “ran a violent drug trafficking organization that dominated the sale of heroin and crack in the Gowanus Houses throughout much of the 1990s.”

Back in August 1990, Price allegedly shot Ronald Chavis and Michael Brown after luring them from the Gowanus Houses to another housing project in Bedford Stuyvesant.

He killed Chavis, but only wounded Brown, who managed to escape the assassination attempt."

Whew. Glad he's going away and glad I got away!

Not Cool

From the Brooklyn Paper:

"A gun-wielding perp mugged two F-train commuters in separate brutal incidents on May 7 at the Carroll Street station.

The first victim, 56, told cops that she had just gotten off the Coney Island-bound train at around 8:45 am at the President Street end of the station when a man grabbed her purse, pulled a gun on her and said, “Shut up or I’ll kill you.”"

Keep your heads on a swivel people.

Where will hipsters leave their projects now?

The 76th Precinct has decided to crack down on those who leave their abandoned or decrepit bikes chained to city property, perhaps with the vague idea that they will eventually reclaim them. From the Brooklyn Eagle:

"The initiative was sparked by complaints from residents weary of seeing tangled heaps of rubber and metal at corners like Smith and President streets, according to Officer Vincent Marrone, a community affairs officer with the 76th Precinct, which encompasses Carroll Gardens.

Cops said they are in the investigatory phase of the crackdown, and will be canvassing the neighborhood in the coming days to find trouble spots. In the short term, education will be key, as the precinct will attempt to inform cyclists that it is illegal to lock their bikes to street signs."

Community Board 6 turns down Charter School

We've already seen rough talk about the realities in Gowanus, and how it is not appropriate for school siting. Well, sounds as if Community Board 6 still agrees with their previous comments. According to Courier-Life, Summit Academy's application to be sited on Butler Street was recommended for denial.

"“This is outrageous,” said board member Debra Scotto, who voted against the special permit. “This is an absolutely horrible place to site a school — primarily because of the traffic, but also because there are prostitutes around the corner [from the site],” she said after the board’s March 10 meeting. “It’s abysmal down there.”

Despite the vote, Natasha Campbell, the school’s executive director, said Summit remains in “an exploratory phase, looking for a permanent home.”

Summit Academy is currently housed inside Public School 27, on Huntington Street in Red Hook. The charter school currently serves 92 sixth graders, and its population is expected to swell next year to 100 sixth graders and 100 seventh graders Campbell said.“We have a phenomenal relationship with PS 27, but the problem is that we are growing,” she added."

Although I sympathize with a fledgling school trying to make it, the fact that this is a charter school softens the blow. Also, let's not forget that the Community Board doesn't actually have any power!

Honoring a local Boy in Blue

Living in one of the safest neighborhoods in Brooklyn certainly has its advantages, although one can't help but question if it makes people feel a bit too safe. One of the reasons we all feel so safe is the continuing work of the 76th Precienct. Captain Corey does a fantastic job of keeping the public informed, and now we learn that Oliver Lopez, a Carroll Gardens officer, does an equally good job helping the area's children. From Courier-Life:

"Lopez, his sons and wife Julissa were all in attendance at Patrol Borough Brooklyn South headquarters on Snyder Avenue last week when Chief Fox handed the award to Lopez, showing that his years of professionalism and strong work ethic didn’t go unnoticed.

An arrest of a mugger in January and the September pinching of a notorious career burglar who used the neighborhood as his happy hunting ground for months before his apprehension is all the same to Oliver. Through the years, most of which have been on the streets of Carroll Gardens and Red Hook, he’s never received a civilian complaint, his captain noted.

“He treats everybody with dignity and respect — even the criminals,” Corey said.

A true role model indeed."
Image from NYC.gov

World's Oldest Profession: Gowanus Style

A little noticed comment in Community Board 6's list of issues for a new charter school in the Gowanus/Boerum Hill neighborhood was: prostitutes. To be more accurate, it was reported that Gowanus was home to "roving bands of hookers and drug dealers"; sounds like my kind of town! Is it still true? From the Brooklyn Ink:

"...locals claim that streetwalkers still make their presence known. A receptionist at a nearby Holiday Inn Express would not confirm whether she’d seen any hookers or drug dealers on the block, but did say that she advises guests to “walk the other way”, to Third Avenue, when leaving the hotel rather than turning right toward the empty lot next door.

“After a certain hour, when all the businesses close up, it’s pretty much free business for prostitutes,” said Marlon Joseph, a supervisor at Petroleum Tanks, directly opposite an empty lot on Butler Street.

Of the hookers and drug dealers on the block at night, Joseph said, “I guess that’s their time to party, when we all go home for the day.”

An attendant at a gas station on the corner of Third Avenue, a block away from the intended location of the school, said during the daytime the area is safe, but after midnight it is “crawling with hookers.”"

News Flash: Red Hook still Rough

As if we didn't already know it, despite Ikea, lobster rolls, water taxis and key lime pies, Red Hook remains very real. Over the past week weeks, the 76th Precinct has received reports of a trio of armed robbers who have brandished weapons in an effort to get their victims to hand over cash. From Courier-Life:

"“Three in a row is a pretty serious thing,” said John McGettrick, the co-chair of the civic group. And the actual number of robberies might actually be higher, he said. “Sometimes there is an unfortunate tendency not to report a crime that’s committed against you,” McGettrick said, adding that he has heard anecdotally that there was more than three recent robberies.

“Young people using guns to engage in criminal activity — that’s a bad combination,” he continued, “and that has heightened the level of concern.”

Corey said he understood the fear, and reacted quickly to the situation.

After the first incident, the precinct deployed extra cops to the area, a tactic that proved successful when cops nabbed a member of the trio the next day.“The additional resources resulted in the arrest Monday evening,” the top cop said."

Court Street Fence Raided

The Court Street office of Cobble Hill Car Service has apparently been functioning as a fence for stolen electronic goods. Does this really surprise anyone? From Courier-Life:

"Investigators executed a search warrant at the Cobble Hill Car Service near the corner of Court and Douglass streets on February 2 after learning that workers were allegedly both buying and selling stolen electronics such as portable GPS devices. It’s believed that the electronics had been taken from cars in the neighborhood.

Police said that one car service employee was arrested, charged with criminal possession of stolen property.

The raid took place after several undercover buys were held at the local business, officials said."

CVS Crime Wave?

Over at the Brooklyn Paper, we learned this morning that the Court Street CVS (between 2st and 2nd Places) has been the site of at least two attempted robberies in the past couple of weeks. From the Police Blotter:

"One week after our Police Blotter crackled with a juicy item about a pushy shoplifter at the store between First and Second places, the manager told cops that a perp entered the store about 2:50 pm and tried to leave without paying for several items.

Employees wrestled with the villain and he gave back the items. But when workers refused to allow him to leave, he got violent, pulling a knife.

“I gave you your stuff back — get off me,” he said, brandishing the blade before making his getaway.

Cops are looking for a 6-foot, 230-pound bald man in his 40s."

Lets keep an eye out, Carroll Gardeners!

Murder on 4th Street

Sad news for the safety of all in Carroll Gardeners.  In what police are terming a home invasion, a 29-year old 4th Street resident was found dead from a gunshot. From the Daily News:

A young rock musician was found dead in his apartment on a quiet Brooklyn street - with a bullet in his heart, cops said Friday. No one has been arrested in the killing of drummer Troy Young, 29, and the motive for the shooting was a mystery. His body was discovered after a friend went to the 76th Precinct to report him missing. Cops said he was shot in the shoulder and the bullet went through his heart.


Just another reminder to be vigilant in these times.