BENSONHURST'S PREMIER NEWS BLOG

We just received word from Jane Tuv, program director for the Arlekino Theater, which we covered back in July, that there are still some spots available for their fall semester.

According to a promotional flier, the program aims to instill an appreciation for the arts in young people, as well as connect different generations of the Russian-Jewish community.

As an added bonus, Jane tells us that Arlekino’s summer fundraiser was such a success that tuition is being priced at a significant discount.

The program, which teaches four to six-year-old children everything from miniature set design and stage props to choreography and improvisational acting, is inspired by Jewish themes and held in Russian.

The classes are taking place at the Generation 21 Nursery and Daycare (6709 19th Avenue) every Monday from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m, until December 19. The cost is $375 per child, which includes a recital at the end of the year.

For more info on registration, please contact Program Director Jane Tuv at admissions [at] arlekinotheater [dot] com, or call (317) 523-6713

(from wikipedia.org)

The pilot of a helicopter that crashed into the East River yesterday – resulting in the death of 40-year-old Australian restaurateur Sonia Mara – made an emergency landing at a local park five years ago.

In 2006, pilot Paul Dudley landed in Calvert Vaux Park (Shore Parkway and Bay 46th Street) after the engine of his single engine Cessna airplane gave out over Gravesend Bay.

As part of their investigation into yesterday’s fatal helicopter crash, the NTSB is currently inspecting wreckage at Floyd Bennett Field on Flatbush Avenue in Marine Park.

Two of the helicopter’s other passengers – Mara’s mother and partner Helen Tamaki – are both in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital.

Her stepfather was released from Bellevue after being treated yesterday.

Paul Dudley, who is director of New Jersey’s Linden Airport – as well as the owner of its management company, was treated on the scene.

This morning, Rosie the Reader sent us the above photo of a new pizzeria set to open at the corner of Bay Parkway and 65th Street.

Rosie writes:

Saw this in the window of the ground floor of the modern (purplish/maroonish brick) building on the NW corner of Bay Parkway & 65th St.

They have the windows soaped up pretty good but through the higher windows I could see some red light fixtures installed but still covered with plastic & a flat screen tv mounted in one of the corners.

After a little Internet snooping we found that a U.S. federal trademark was filed by Pizza Daddy LLC in October of 2010. The address listed for the business is 6422 Bay Parkway.

Since they’re using a brick oven, it looks like they may be trying for a slice of Europa Pizzeria’s (6423 20th Avenue) clientele.

I wonder if they’ll deliver?

The Huffington Post reported earlier today that a suspect arrested for a pair of sexual assaults this weekend in Sunset Park might be connected to a string of rapes and gropings in central and southwestern Brooklyn that began earlier this year.

Federico Chamorro Yax – who lives in Bensonhurst – was arrested in his apartment on Sunday night. Police believe he may also be responsible for a September 4, attack on a 30-year-old woman near his home.

During the September sexual assault a man forced his hand up the woman’s skirt.

Yax reportedly attacked two 22-year-old women in Sunset Park on Sunday. The victims fought back and managed to injure their attacker. Hours after the episode, police found Yax at home still bleeding from the fight.

From Huffington Post:

Police have been searching for suspects connected to a series of sexual assaults being reported in Brooklyn, specifically Park Slope, Sunset Park, and other nearby neighborhoods. As of September 23, ten attacks had been reported since March and have contributed to a rise in subway crime.

Police say that it is still unknown however, whether or not Yax can be connected to the Park Slope attacks, which have generated a wave of community action to fight against sexual predators including a 300 person rally and volunteer escort services to protect women walking home from subway stations.

The above video, posted online by ABC 7, shows images of Yax in custody.

If you’ve enjoyed the articles I’ve written on neighborhood architecture, you can check out Sheepshead Bites today, which features a piece with yours truly detailing some of the different architectural styles and ornamentation found in that neck of the woods.

Southern Brooklyn is usually overlooked by the architectural community at large when it comes to all but our most famous historical structures. One of the problems is that many of our older buildings are simply ignored by us.

The long term plan is to document and bring newfound appreciation to the treasures that are our historic buildings and homes – many of which sit right under our noses.

Image by Joseph L.

Reader Joseph L. contacted Bensonhurst Bean last night to say he spoke with the owner of the laundromat in the building on 18th Avenue, between 62nd Street and 63rd Street, which suffered some major damage from Sunday’s blaze.

“According to him (the store owner), the fire was possibly due to old wiring,” Joseph L. told Bensonhurst Bean. “From what I could see of the inside, the laundry mat was basically gutted, with portions of the ceiling coming down and the flooring destroyed.”

Joseph wrote in an e-mail that the owner is seeking to rebuild his business but that it should take some time, due to the amount of damage.

He also informed us that the two floors of apartments above street level are vacant with boarded up windows. A red cross truck was seen outside Sunday at around 4 p.m., tending to residents made homeless by the fire.

The following is a press release from Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s office:

9/11 Compensation Fund Open for Business

-Zadroga Bill Authors Hail Opening of Fund to Provide Economic Relief to Injured 9/11 Responders & Survivors-

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Peter King (R-NY), authors of H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, issued the following joint statement on the announcement today by Special Master Sheila Birnbaum that the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) is now open for business:

“Today, we are putting into practice an important part of the Zadroga law so that it can begin helping people. Getting the VCF up and running is a crucial step toward meeting America’s moral responsibility to help those injured as a result of 9/11. We are delighted that this day has finally arrived, and that struggling 9/11 responders and survivors will soon be able to apply for the economic relief they and their families so urgently need.

“Ms. Birnbaum has done a great job setting up the VCF in a timely manner and in seeking input from 9/11 responders and survivors to make the program better. We will continue working to create the most compassionate and efficient program possible for those injured by the toxins at ground zero.”

The VCF’s website, http://www.vcf.gov/, will enable claimants to register for the VCF online, the first step in the claims process; obtain a checklist of documents and information that claimants will need when they submit their claims; and review a list of frequently-asked questions, which will be updated regularly, and is designed to make the process as simple as possible.

The Zadroga law provides health care for those injured or exposed to toxins released by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, and reopens the VCF to provide economic relief to those harmed by the attacks (the original VCF was created in the weeks following 9/11 and closed in December 2003).

Background

In January, Maloney, Nadler, and King released documents from the Congressional Research Service to help answer questions that members of the media and the public may have about the new law. Below are links to the four documents:

• · A Q&A on eligibility for health and compensation benefits under the Zadroga Act;
• · A timeline of dates by which the new law will be implemented;
• · A brief, plain-language summary of the law; and
• · A section-by-section summary of the law.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler represents New York’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, SoHo, Greenwich Village, TriBeCa, the Financial District and Battery Park City. In Brooklyn, the 8th District includes parts of Borough Park, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Gravesend, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach and Seagate.

A volunteer serves a resident in need at Reaching Out Community Services

Francine Russo noticed that there were only five boxes of cereal left on the shelf.

All morning, her fellow volunteers had led clients around an aisle of shelves filled with a very meager selection of food. The freezer had been turned off. They had run out of meat.

Looking at the cereal left, Russo had a hard announcement to make.

“Only families with children get cereal,” she said.

Daily food shortage is one of the many problems that have plagued Reaching Out Community Services, a food pantry located in 7708 New Utrecht Avenue.

“As the economy has gotten worse, more people have started to depend on us,” said Thomas Neve, executive director and founder of the pantry. “Contributions have decreased.”

Keep reading, and find out how you can help.

Fusco leaves court after his guilty plea (image by Jesse Ward for Daily News)

The Daily News reported last Friday that Richard Fusco, the reputed consigliere of the Colombo crime family, pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to an attempted shakedown of Gambino family rivals – which would have allegedly included a percentage of proceeds from the annual Festa di Santa Rosalia on 18th Avenue.

According to the News, the funds were to go towards the medical expenses of stabbing victim Walter Samperi.

From Daily News:

Richard Fusco, 75, met on Staten Island with his captains to discuss how to proceed after a thug affiliated with the Gambinos stabbed Colombo associate Walter Samperi in May 2010.

The Colombos wanted $150,000 – $100,000 of which would come from the Gambinos’ cut from the 18th Ave. feast in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

Fusco admitted there was an “implied” threat of retaliation and “I did nothing to dispel it.” The meeting was secretly taped by Colombo turncoat Paul Bevacqua, who was wearing a wire.

Just before the court proceeding was under way, a court clerk censured Fusco for making an angry remark about the prosecutor, berating him to “keep your negative comments to yourself!”

The aging gangster was reportedly furious about the U.S. Attorney’s office refusal to have his electronic monitoring device removed.

Patrick Delaney’s Eagle Scout project will bring a Pet Awareness Fair to the New Utrecht Reformed Church on October 15, which is one week from this coming Saturday.

Services available to pet owners will include free neutering/spaying by the ASPCA, a pet ID program hosted by the New York Life Insurance Company, adoptable pets from the Sean Casey Animal Shelter and North Shore Animal League, as well as free pet food samples and training advice.

The fair runs from 12 Noon to 4 p.m. Anyone wishing to spay or neuter their pet should arrive at 7 a.m. to drop their little furry ones off.

For further information and instructions on the free neutering/spaying program, please visit ASPCA.org, or call (212) 876-7700 ext. 4303

The New Utrecht Reformed Church is located on 18th Avenue between 83rd Street and 84th Street