Lime For Sale But Not On Sale

So, do you want to buy a bar? To quit your job and relax in a social environment where everybody knows your name? A reader forwarded the news that Lime is for sale on Craigslist for $350,000.

So... how badly do you want to buy a bar?

Trick or Treat in PLG

Halloween is coming and the 71st Precinct Community Council is holding the Annual Trick or Treating walk.

The 71st Pct. Community Council Halloween parade will start at 5:30 at Rutland & Flatbush. The route is Rutland to Rogers, Rogers to Midwood, Midwood to Bedford, Bedford to Maple, Maple to New York, and New York to Empire, ending at the 71st Precinct.

According to Bob Marvin, there were about a thousand children last year, so be prepared if you live on the route.

Anyone who is giving out candy but doesn't live on the route, let me know and I'll add you to the post. So far I know that there will be candy given out off-route at:

23 Hawthorne
77 Midwood
24 Lefferts

Have a fun and safe Halloween.

Sign the petition for speed humps on Hawthorne

This just in: The Department of Transportation has surveyed our street and ruled that it would be a good site for speed humps if Hawthorne residents agree.

Why speed humps? Hawthorne gets an inordinate amount of through-traffic due to its location (off Flatbush) and design (the street is extra wide, for example, and has few trees). And with that traffic comes a lot of speeding. Humps would slow down cars and discourage drivers to use the street as a thoroughfare.

I've created a petition, per Community Board 9 request. If you live on Hawthorne and haven't yet signed the petition but would like to, email me at brooklynite282 @ gmail and I'll bring it by at a convenient time. Otherwise, you could download this petition (pdf), sign it (ideally, with some roommates and/or neighbors) and drop it off under the gate at 23 Hawthorne. Thanks.

A Local Louima?

Police are denying reports that they beat and sodomized a man at the Prospect Park subway station on October 15:

Michael Mineo says he was standing outside the Prospect Park subway station in Prospect Lefferts Gardens at 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 when a group of uniformed cops approached him and accused him of smoking marijuana.

The confrontation escalated, Mineo says, and he fled into the station. There, he says, the cops jumped him. While one cop held his legs and another held his shoulders, he says one of the cops pulled down his pants.

At that point, Mineo says, one of the cops shoved something - apparently the antenna of a police radio - into his rectum.

According to police, however, "Police officers grappled with an individual who they observed smoking marijuana after he had fled and resisted being handcuffed," Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said. "His assertion that he was sodomized is not supported by independent civilian witnesses on the scene."

It is unclear how true that account is, however, as the Daily News quotes an unnamed police source as there being a witness that saw Mineo's naked behind (but not any sodomizing) and heard Mineo protest  "Why are you trying to taser me? Why did you stick a walkie-talkie up my ass?" Whether the protest was sincere is unclear, as none of the officers apparently had tasers.

UPDATE: According to Newsday, the accused police officers are "in some kind of trouble."

Michael Mineo has injuries that show he was beaten and sexually assaulted, the source said. Records obtained by The Associated Press show Mineo arrived at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center on Oct. 15 complaining he had been assaulted by police with a foreign object. The papers say he left the hospital four days later after he was treated for "anal assault."

"There's something inappropriate that happened here," the source said. "Whether it's something criminal or something that would be handled departmentally, it's too early to tell. He's got injuries that support his claim. Someone has to explain his injuries.

"I think we're looking at a situation in which these cops are in a jam."

RightRides expands to PLG

RightRides—a nonprofit group that offers free car rides for women and transgender people late Saturday night—is now serving our humble 'hood Those who want to partake of their services can call 1-888-215-SAFE(7233) to catch a ride between midnight and 3 AM on Saturday night.

Free Tree giveaway this weekend

Flatbush Gardener pointed us to this neato event on Saturday, October 18:

1,250 FREE trees will be available for adoption by homeowners and community groups at select locations throughout the five boroughs this October. Trees will be distributed by New York Restoration Project (NYRP). Note – individuals and families are limited to adopting one tree per household; and all tree recipients are required to register their new tree at www.milliontreesnyc.org. Interested community groups that can plant and care for 5-10 trees should contact mcrowley@nyrp.org before October 18th.

For residents who do not have their own yard to plant a tree, information on volunteering, educational programming and contributing to MillionTreesNYC will also be available.

A variety of trees of different sizes, including flowering and medium and large canopy (shade) trees will be available. Our horticultural staff will be present to provide advice on which species tree is best for your home.

Brooklynites can pick up trees at the Sunset Park Green Market on 4th Avenue and 59th/60th Streets. Details and other locations can be found here (pdf).

Happy Random Anniversary, PLG!

While I wish the Brooklyn Eagle had held this story for a year so that the title of this post wouldn't be so silly, yesterday marked the 29th Anniversary of PLG's designation as a historic district.

The article has an interesting architectural timeline of the neighborhood, from the first 1890's construction frenzy to the limestone explosion between 1905 and 1910, through the finishing touch of red brick Colonials in 1915-1925.

Carfree-free Prospect Park?

The Brooklyn Paper reports:

Countering a wave of bike-friendly initiatives, community groups rallied on Thursday against cycling activists’ calls for a car-free Prospect Park — saying that such a scheme would clog their neighborhoods with the hundreds of vehicles that currently use park roads during morning and evening rush hours.

The community groups in question include Community Boards 7 (Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace) and 14 (Flatbush, Midwood, Kensington and Ocean Parkway). Their efforts are strictly preemptive. The Department of Transportation has no plans to end rush-hour traffic through the park. But the mere IDEA of refusing to let car traffic run through drive in the park is apparently so galling that they've decided to take action.

What's interesting here is that their argument—at least as portrayed in the Brooklyn Paper—is that constituents are afraid of spillover traffic in their neighborhoods. In other words, they're afraid that if Prospect Park went carfree, their streets would become noisy and polluted.

Two points about that: One, as NYC traffic guru has Sam Schwartz pointed out, closing off one route only leads to increased traffic on agent routes in the short term—a few months. Gradually, drivers adapt to avoid clogged routes by taking different routes, switching to other transportation modes, traveling at different times, and cutting out unnecessary trips. Parkside Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Park Circle—the stretch CB14's Alan Berk is concerned about—is already a clusterfuck during rush hour so it wouldn't be long before drivers learned to avoid it.

Two: This argument is clearly a ruse by car owners to make their case more appealing. If the problem is, as Berk claims, "exhaust emissions and noise" on the streets around the park, how is it any better to have cars driving inside the park? Residents pay a premium to live close to the park, presumably to enjoy the park as a park. Having cars drive through in the park allows roads to carry more traffic, assuring more emissions, not less.

The constituency Berk and his cronies are actually representing are car drivers who DON'T live around the park: people in Midwood, for example, who see our oasis as their route to work. We can agree or disagree on whether cars should be allowed in the park, but these pols should cut the subterfuge.

ArtMart and Flea Market this Saturday

PLG Arts' annual ArtMart 11225 is coming up this weekend. On Saturday, from 10 am to 5 pm, artists and crafty types will be selling their wares on Lincoln Road, between Flatbush and Ocean. Local artists involved include Bob Marvin (photograph at right), Joyce Riley, and Silvia Maier.

Saturday is also the date for the Maple Street School's Annual Flea Market FUNdraiser, where you can buy clothing, books, toys, small appliances, furniture, and other goodies at 21 Lincoln Road. The money raised supports the PLG's preschool co-op.

Come on down!