A Rough 24 Hours in Brooklyn
It’s been a rough 24 hours. First, at around 9:30 last night, a wooden cornice fell off the front of 316 5th Avenue in Park Slope, luckily injuring no one. Then, the rainstorm hit the borough this morning in the pre-dawn hours, knocking over several trees in Prospect Park South. (Check out lots of pics…
It’s been a rough 24 hours. First, at around 9:30 last night, a wooden cornice fell off the front of 316 5th Avenue in Park Slope, luckily injuring no one. Then, the rainstorm hit the borough this morning in the pre-dawn hours, knocking over several trees in Prospect Park South. (Check out lots of pics on the Crazy Stable link.) And this just in: 18-20 Jackson Place has collapsed, leaving only a partial facade intact. No one was injured and the adjacent properties appear to be okay, according to an eyewitness account. The property was allowed to become derelict by the current owner. Can anyone send a pic of the collapse?
316 5th Avenue Catastophe [Bklyn King] GMAP
316 5th Avenue Aftermath [Bklyn King]
Large Piece of Building Falls [OTBKB]
Our Brooklyn Tornado [Crazy Stable]
Wednesday PM Storm Linkage [Curbed]]
When we got OUR Brooklyn tornado on Aug. 8, 2007, (sniff), where were you all then? Where were the duelling rock-song lyrics for Flatbush, eh? The media found one apartment building in Bay Ridge with the side ripped off and stood there yammering about a “Bay Ridge tornado” while we picked our way through a fallen forest and squashed-car derby in Prospect Park South…Well, now we Flatbush Tornado Survivors, unheralded as we may be by history, will magnanimously express our sympathy to our less fortunate neighbors in Park Slope, Bed-Stuy, and the other areas that the newsbimbos didn’t reach for a perky live remote last night! I will tell you from experience that there is one reward for all the destruction: the sight of studly noble firemen sauntering down your block with chain saws!!!
“And perhaps it was because he spends his spare time or money supporting police and community projects and they decided to do him a favor. Why are you so bitter about it?”
Because we all pay taxes and association dues. And because, naive me, I thought safety trumped favors. And I do know why the police took care of the tree on his property. Not because of safety issues, but as a “courtesy,” as the commanding officer at the scene informed me. That same courtesy has not been extended to the family on Stratford between Albemarle and Beverley that can’t get their car out of their driveway because of a fallen tree. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a degree of fairness and to emphasize safety. Then again, I’m not a Republican.
Here’s some coverage about the ongoing clean-up in Bay Ridge:
http://rightinbayridge.blogspot.com/2007/08/pulp-truth-day-after-yesterday-in-bay.html
I dunno, I’m with the other guy–who’s Ron Kleinhandler and why did he merit this “courtesy” in an emergency situation over more pressing public safety hazards? If true, it’s a valid story and a very good question, Anonymous 10:11. And “I think you might not like this neighborhood because you don’t fit in” sounds like a line from “The Stepford Wives,” frankly.
PPSer please do us all a favor and really support the neighborhood by leaving it. All you do on this board is complain about it, your neighbors, the pace of gentrification being too slow, the prices of real estate being too high given your perception of the neighborhood, etc.. I don’t see how that is “supporting” the neighborhood at all. If you aren’t happy here, leave.
Also it is very tacky and I think, quite wrong of you to put your neighbor’s name on a public blog. I don’t see you listing your full name on here. You have no idea why the police chose to remove that particular tree for that particular person – there may have been a safety reason you were not aware of. And perhaps it was because he spends his spare time or money supporting police and community projects and they decided to do him a favor. Why are you so bitter about it? It is your job to take care of the trees on your property. Someone else was helped as a courtesy – why does that upset you so much? I cleared up my trees and the city ones in front of my house. My neighbor was helped by the firemen because he is elderly, friendly and has lived in the neighborhood for a while so they felt sorry for him and did him a favor. I am happy for him and think it was nice of them – as did most of my other neighbors. I think you might not like this neighborhood because you don’t fit in. We are generally a positive, supportive group of people.
Ron Kleinhandler, who lives in Prospect Park South, is the lucky beneficiary of extraordinary police involvement (at least 8 officers with the emergency unit, the 70th precinct and OEM) in cutting down a tree in his yard which posed no hazard to anyone while the police overtly and actively ignored much more serious damage and hazards elsewhere in the neighborhood, including torn up sidewalks, huge trees blocking sidewalks, and huge tree limbs hanging loosely high overhead, waiting for the next storm or wind. I guess it’s not Mr. Kleinhandler’s fault that he received such favored treatment. When I asked for police tape to cordon off a portion of the sidewalk next to my home so that pedestrians might avoid getting bonked on the head with those hanging tree limbs, I was told by the commanding officer at the scene, “we’re doing a courtesy for this guy; you want caution tape, go to Home Depot.” End of story.
Who is Ron Kleinhandler?
Gravity is a harsh mistress.
The cornice that fell off the 5th Ave building was not just a fluke; they have been adding on an extra floor or two to the top of this dilapidated building, and I would bet a pile of money that the portion that fell was due to the recent work. I can’t believe they don’t have scaffolding up to cover the sidewalk.