Yesterday Mayor Bloomberg announced along with Ken Salazar the United States Secretary of the Interior, and Judith Enck Regional Administrator of Region 2, the beginnings of a formal legal agreement detailing how the city and federal governments will manage and who will have jurisdiction over the very large Jamaica Bay.
Right now some of Jamaica Bay is controlled by the city while some is controlled by the federal park service and there are areas that are controlled by both if not more other agencies. There are a lot of overlapping projects and jurisdictional issues that arise from sharing the area. The Mayor said is best when “Even though these city and federal holdings sit next to one another like a jigsaw puzzle, they don’t always fit well together,” . The agreement signed yesterday, is the building blocks for a new unified governing model that works together and shares planning objectives and goals.
As for what this means for the plumb beach rest stop. Parks Commisioner Adrian Benepe said there will be a major rehabilitation project to rebuild and stabilize the area with the army corps of engineers and the city soon. Councilman Lew Fidler and newly elected Bob Turner will have to keep pushing to make sure they keep their word and we don’t lose the belt parkway. The Parks Commissioner announced that a project will be started in the near future by the army corps of engineers with the city and in cooperation with the national parks service.
The Environmental Protection Agency also announced that as of October 28, 2011 Jamaica Bay is now a No Discharge Zone. According to the EPA “A No Discharge Area (NDA) is a designated body of water where the discharge of treated and untreated boat sewage is prohibited (does not include grey water). Under the federal Clean Water Act it is illegal to discharge untreated (raw) sewage from a vessel in U.S. waters.”
The house boats the Gerritsen Beach area have access to free pump out station at the Knapp Street treatment plant. The house boats that dont or are unable to move might have a visit from the EPA shortly.
The Knapp Street sanitation garage, aka BK 15, recently received 3.1 Million for landscaping and trailer renovations. Construction has since been completed, and now there are six huge trailers on the property.
Please join Sheepshead Bay residents to show your opposition to the illegal Mosque/community center construction on Sunday March 13, 2011 from 1-3PM on Voorhies Avenue (Between East 28th and East 29th Street)
Do you want loud calls to prayer every day?
Do you want pedestrian and car traffic?
Do you want blocked sidewalks and driveways, no parking, constant police presence?
Department of Buildings “DOB” Continues to appease the mosque builders despite obvious violations of the NYC Building Code and NYC Zoning Regulations.
Most politicians and bureaucrats ignore community’s please for help!
Come out! Let your neighbors know! Our voices must be heard!
Bay People-We Stand United for Our Quality of Life!
We received this letter to the editor about Walmart:
To All,
First off, I want to express my gratitude to Dan for allowing me this opportunity to announce my grassroots campaign to bring Walmart to Gerritsen Beach/Sheepshead Bay area. He does a lot of great things for the community I hope he keeps up the good work for years to come. First off let me start by saying that we were all saddened by the announcement of the closing of Pathmark located on 3785 Nostrand Avenue, this closing will have a deep affect on the community with the loss of jobs and a place to shop. I have read that officials from Representative Anthony Weiner’s office have sent out letters to Stop & Shop, White Rose, D’Agostino Supermarkets, Key Food, and Whole Foods to open another supermarket in this location. However in these tough times, most of these stores listed probably do not have the capital to open a new store. As you probably know already, Walmart is currently looking to open up in locations in New York City, I believe this location on Nostrand Avenue will be a perfect location for Walmart. Walmart is the only company I believe has the capital to open up a new store in these tough times. I believe Sheepshead/Gerritsen and the surrounding area needs Walmart, and Walmart needs Sheepshead/Gerritsen.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D – Brooklyn & Queens), Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, State Senator Carl Kruger, and Councilmembers Lew Fidler and Michael Nelson announced their plans to help bring a new supermarket to the area.
Weiner’s office has already written letters to Stop & Shop, White Rose, D’Agostino Supermarkets, Key Food, and Whole Foods in an attempt to find a suitable replacement for the community. With the closure of Pathmark, over 100 employees will lose their jobs and residents – including the neighborhood’s large senior population – will be forced to walk over 10 blocks to find another equivalent store to purchase their everyday groceries.
Troubled supermarket giant A&P, which filed for bankruptcy protection late last year, will close 32 stores, including four in the New York City area, union officials have been told.
Brouogh President Marty Markowitz sent us this letter:
The loss of a supermarket in Brooklyn, particularly when so many of our neighborhoods are lacking quality food at affordable prices, is not only a major quality of life issue but a public health issue. When supermarkets close, our residents—especially seniors—are forced to travel greater distances, often at greater expense, to provide for basic needs for themselves and their families. The preservation and creation of supermarkets has been, and continues to be, a top priority of my office, and it has been my ULURP policy to seek the inclusion of supermarkets as part of my discretionary land use review where deemed appropriate, as in the Shops at Gateway, Gateway Estates and Coney Island, to name a few. While I am disappointed the Pathmark on Nostrand Avenue will be closing, I am interested in working with the property owner and other stakeholders to identify a supermarket retailer to replace Pathmark and provide the residents of Sheepshead Bay and surrounding communities with the access to the fresh food they deserve.
Always a Long Line at Pathmark! Must of been popular.
The Golden Gate Motor Inn on the corner of Shore Parkway and Knapp Street has closed due to lack of business.
The owner Harshad Patel told the Brooklyn Paper “I’ve lost $4 to $5 million,”…. “People just aren’t staying here anymore since the economic downturn.”
This may be true but it was widely speculated that this hotel was only purchased to develop the property into something else. Possibly multiple apartment buildings, a supermarket, or even a luxury hotel. However, the community leaders were against any type of residential development. The consensus was that the community would support a zoning change of C8-2, which would restrict all residential uses, and would have allowed the developer to build as large of a hotel as possible. Some estimates were that the hotel could have been between 12 to 20 stories and accommodate up to 200 rooms.
Investigators used green dye to trace discharges and found that fecal matter and toilet paper from the movie theater’s septic system showed up in the creek as recently as this year.
These are the four individuals :
Craig Novoa (top left), David Matalon (top right), Simon Shin (bottom right) and Alex Spivak were hit with felony environmental crime charges.
Hynes said the four men and their companies, shared a sewage pipe that they were responsible for maintaining. “Their private sewer system regularly broke down, flooded the parking lot, created noxious odors and regularly deposited large quantities of raw sewage directly into the waters of Shell Bank Creek,” said Hynes.
The alleged polluters were warned repeatedly since 2003 that the pipes were leaking. Regal Cinemas repaired the pipe in 2009 and water quality improved substantially. TGI Fridays and the bagel shop are accused of dumping untreated waste grease and oil into the creek. Deauville Marina is also accused of dumping raw sewage from a outhouse into the creek.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of four years and fines up to $75,000 for each day the pollution was discharged.
Regal Cinemas lawyer Austin Campriello told City Room “Regal categorically denies any guilt,” “Regal spent close to $2 million to fix that leaky sewer line, and we believe it’s fixed.
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