GerritsenBeach.net

Well here are some things that were discussed at the Property Owners meeting:

• Budgets cut over at PS 277, the property owners is going to be donating $500
• There was alot of discussion about the Knapp Street development and the lack of construction fence. The deal with the fence is: when they start construction they have to put it up, they are being very closely watched.
• There was also alot of discussion about the house next to Mike and Gerard’s with their 3rd floor, that we featured on “Which on of these things doesn’t Belong“. According to the DOB, it hasn’t been signed off on yet.
• The 61st precinct community affairs Sargent gave his report about crime in the area, some speeders, some drugs, but what is interesting is that the Bantry Bar was issued 2 SLA (State Liquor Authority) summonses (what for I don’t know) Its neighbor the Beach Bar was inspected and it is a “legitimate establishment” and has no issues.

It wasn’t brought up at the meeting but after some quick research, this might be why they were summonsed. The Bantry Bar is the only bar according to the SLA website with an inactive license.

• The Bantry Bar does not appear to have a valid liquor license it is inactive and expired
  • (New York State Liquor Authority / Bantry Bar).
• The Beach Bar which has a valid and active license.
  • (New York State Liquor Authority / Beach Bar)
• Jims Marine Inn has a valid and active license
  • (New York State Liquor Authority / Jims Marine Inn)
• Tamaqua has a valid and active license
  • (New York State Liquor Authority / Tamaqua)
• Dockside has a valid and active license
  • (New York State Liquor Authority / Dockside Cafe)

SSJ Development is ready to break ground on 3 sites in Brooklyn, including Bergen Beach, Knapp St. and Gerritsen Beach (Lacon Court), thanks to $100 Milliion loan from Amalgomated Bank.

The third project, which won’t break ground for several months, is planned for Gerritsen Beach (Lacon Court). The development, a three-story building with 64 units starting at $349,000, will be called the Riviera. The 3.25-acre site comprises 22 lots Mr. Jemal bought up over the past seven years and was once the site of a marina, a repair yard for boats, a billiards club, and a place where a local resident was collecting pigeons.

“It was really beat up,” he said. “It needed attention.”

Some residents of Gerritsen Beach said that while they believed the waterfront needed improvement, they were against Mr. Jemal’s project.

“It’s going to add congestion and change the character of the neighborhood,” a mother of three who grew up in the area, Margaret McCormick, said. Her husband, Kevin, said residents could do little to stop the development.

Still, they and other opponents are hoping that the cost of cleaning up the contaminated soil from the old boat yard will make it too expensive to build the project.

“What he wants to build is the equivalent of a 35-foot wall along a whole stretch of the waterfront,” Mr. McCormick said. “These are fourth-generation families living in houses on double lots. This isn’t Florida.”

Mr. Jemal contended that he is building within the zoning requirements for the area and that his buildings will add to the character of the existing neighborhoods.

“I’m reclaiming the waterfront and opening it up,” he said. “What I’m doing in South Brooklyn will be on line before anything they’re doing in North Brooklyn.”

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