BENSONHURST'S PREMIER NEWS BLOG

Howard Greenberg, standing with the rest of Levi Aron's defense team, speaks to reporters on Monday (Robert Stolarik for The New York Times)

Levi Aron, the accused killer of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky, received a new addition to his defense team, as well as a better chance at life in a state mental hospital, rather than the penitentiary.

Veteran attorney Howard Greenberg addressed reporters after an appearance before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Neal Firetog yesterday, telling them that although Aron was found fit to stand trial, the so-called Butcher of Borough Park was insane during the act of murdering the 8-year-old boy.

From Daily News:

Greenberg slammed the detailed confession his client gave to the authorities after cops found the boy’s severed feet inside his freezer.

Aron “said what they told him to say,” Greenberg said.

“My opinion is that you can get this guy to admit he shot Kennedy if you spend enough time with him,” he said. “The statements they attribute to him will come back to bite the prosecution in the tuchus.”

Prosecutors refused to discuss Greenberg’s accusations.

Aron, who was on Rikers Island during the hearing, appeared via video. According to the NY Times, the defendant seemed “catatonic, ” not moving or saying more than one word the entire time.

The judge assigned to the case had previously been very critical of defense attorneys Pierre Bazile and Jennifer McCann – chastising them for speaking about the case with others, as well as their inexperience.

According to the Times, Judge Firetog has set the next hearing for December 21.

The Coptic Orthodox Church of St. George (image by Aby Thomas / Brooklyn Ink)

Brooklyn Ink had a great feature this past Sunday on the local Coptic Christian community, which is praying for a peaceful solution to the current religious and political turmoil in a rapidly changing Egypt.

Though the Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint George (1105 67th Street) in Dyker Heights, known as the “Ellis Island of the Coptic Community,” may be thousands of miles from Egypt, worshipers’ thoughts remain focused on the 26 people killed during a demonstration in Cairo on October 9.

The community is also trying to pressure officials in both Washington and Cairo to help protect Copts, an ancient Middle Eastern religious minority whose origins can be traced back to Christianity’s earliest days, from further attacks.

From Brooklyn Ink:

The local Copts are also appealing to a higher authority. Parishioners gathered at St. George’s in mid-October to mark the end of a three-day fast called by the church’s top council, the Holy Synod, to mourn for the victims of the Oct. 9 violence between Coptic Christians and the Egyptian army.

“Don’t leave me alone in the midst of this darkness,” sang the congregation. “Let your bright face guide me, O Lord, unto peace.”

At least 26 people were killed and several hundred injured in downtown Cairo after the army attacked Coptic demonstrators protesting the September 30 burning of a church in Aswan, according to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent federal body that monitors religious freedom abroad.

Reports by international observers say the army used live ammunition and armored vehicles – shooting scores and crushing at least six demonstrators – during what had been a largely peaceful protest.

Parishioners say they’re disappointed with Egypt’s new government for not respecting basic rights, such as religious freedom, as well as the freedom to assemble.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s government was toppled in February during a popular revolution which had begun in January.

The victims were demonstrating against the burning of a church by an anti-Christian mob when they were set on by the Egyptian military, as well as hundreds of civilians – apparently Muslim extremists – wielding clubs and machetes.

Despite all the violence faced by fellow Copts, John Fanouse, a fourth-year medical student and member of St. George’s congregation told reporters that a non-violent solution remains possible.

“A lot of us think of tangible steps—we’re going to demonstrate, we’re going to talk, we’re going to write. But the Church always reminds us that prayer and fasting have led to some great, great things in the past. And so, I do remain hopeful.”

On Sunday, November 20, 2011 the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst will be holding its first annual Collegefest.

According to JCH’s website, the fair – which runs from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 pm – will feature over 35 different “colleges, universities and organizations,” allowing future undergrads the opportunity to get a first hand glimpse at the landscape of educational possibilities.

High school students with questions about the application process will also be able to speak with representatives from institutions of higher learning.

The event includes activities such as raffles, as well as some free gifts for participants.

For more information on this important gathering, please contact Alena Gomulina at (718) 331-6800, ext. 184.

The Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst is located at 7802 Bay Parkway between 78th and 79th streets.

A volunteer serves a resident in need at Reaching Out Community Services (Photo by Carla Astudillo)

Weeks after we published a story on Reaching Out Community Services‘ struggles to keep food stocked on its shelves, The New York Daily News reports that the beleaguered Bensonhurst food pantry at 7708 New Utrecht Avenue has hit yet another brick wall. In a devastating blow to its ability to provide free food to the area’s most indigent residents, Reaching Out was denied a permit by the New York City Parks Department to hold weekly flea market fundraisers at Cadman Plaza in downtown Brooklyn.

In spite of holding one successful flea market last April that brought in $2,000 — which Reaching Out Fundraising Chairman James LaMorte said would cover the facility’s rent if they were able to hold them weekly — officials from Parks told the pantry that “they have a blanket policy against allowing flea markets in Brooklyn parks.”

Reaching Out had to take out a bank loan just to pay the rent, and a significant one-time anonymous donation has carried them through this year, but LaMorte admits that the flea markets would help them enormously.

“If we could do it every week, that would cover our rent,” LaMorte said. “We run nice events and have pictures to prove it and have never received a complaint about any of our events.”

“But that money is now gone,” said Thomas Neve, executive director and founder of the pantry. “We stretched it out as much as possible.”

Nevertheless, Cadman Plaza — a stone’s throw from Borough Hall — “is no stranger to commercial activity, with farmers markets held several times a week,” according to The Daily News.

As we previously reported, because other food distribution organizations such as Food Bank and City Harvest have also seen a decrease in funds, the pantry receives less food, in spite of generous donations from Bensonhurst schools and churches. Pantry officials said they have not kept up with demand, which has skyrocketed from 800 clients to 4,000 in just four years due to the ailing economy, and they’ve had to cut back on their hours of operation to offset the expense.

If the pantry doesn’t receive the help it needs, in the form of funding and food donations, “then the whole program might have to shut down,” Neve confesses.

Should that happen, 4,000 area residents could go hungry.

Make a donation to Reaching Out Community Services.

(Source: Minnesota Historical Society)

Red Bolognia’s life was only worth a bag of nickels. His cohorts in a 1935 Bensonhurst-area murder, though, may have helped test the limits of capital punishment in New York State, and pushed reform through regarding the age limits of those who could receive the penal system’s most severe punishment.

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Private Transportation's B110 Bus (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Controversy has erupted around a Borough Park -Williamsburg bus route, where reporters have discovered that women are directed to sit in the back like pre-Civil Rights minorities.

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Source: NY1.com

If there is one thing New Yorkers dislike the most about the winter (no, not the MTA), it has to be potholes.

City Councilman James Oddo is pushing for the city to look for new ways to handle their potholes issue, reports NY1.

“We are losing this fight,” said Oddo in the video. “It’s my belief if we continue to use conventional methods, we will lose more ground year after year.”

A New Hampshire-based company named Kasi Infrared has a new approach to this issue by using infrared technology.

Constructor: The Magazine of the Associated General Contractors of America describes the process:

Crews place the infrared chamber, which generates about 800,000 BTUs of infrared heat, on top of the area in need of repair. The unit heats the asphalt 2 in. to 3 in. deep to a temperature of about 400° F.

Workers then rake the asphalt to obtain clean edges. They apply a rejuvenator to return the oils to the pavement, add some virgin asphalt to fill in the pothole or depression and bring it up to grade, rake again and then compact the spot.

The new method also treats cracks in the asphalt around the potholes, something traditional repairs don’t do. All the equipment used costs about $150,000 and it only takes a two man crew 15 to 20 minutes to heat, fill, and smooth each pothole.

What do you think? Is $150,000 per machine worth it for better pothole repair?

By Violette79 via Flickr.

According to the info available on Violette’s photostream, this was taken on May 2, 2010 using a Sony DSC-W1.

Got any interesting images of Bensonhurst? Send them to jteutonico [at] bensonhurstbean [dot] com or tag your Flickr photos Bensonhurst Bean. If you’re using Flickr, please remember to upload your work with Some Rights Reserved so we can use it!

Being green is a tricky thing.

With 500,000 trees already planted throughout the city, some are saying that these trees creating more problems, according to a New York Times article.

MillionTreesNYC, a public-private program, hopes to plant one million trees throughout the five borough of New York City in the next decade. Heavily touted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the group believes the trees will be beneficial to New York City, pointing out the environmental boost it would give by providing clean our air, absorbing carbon dioxide, and reducing air pollution that effects asthma victims. But many residents worry that these trees will lead to buckling sidewalks, leaf litter and tree limbs on the floor – violations that could cost homeowners thousands of dollars, whether they wanted the trees or not.

“Most people love trees,” said Adrian Benepe, the commissioner of the Parks Department. “But this being New York, you’ll always find someone who doesn’t want a tree.”

Part of the reason so many are concerned is that budget cuts have cause the city to dramatically slash back the pruning cycle for the city’s trees. The regular pruning cycle for a street tree used to be seven years, but now it’s once every 15 to 20 years; which means there will likely be more fallen branches and unkempt trees throughout the city, and a potential danger to pedestrians.

The article also mentions that, depending on the location, studies that show 7 percent to 11 percent of newly installed trees die within two years of planting.

Have you had problems with trees buckling sidewalks on your block? Have you ever been fined for it? Is this program worth the potential aggravation? Let us know in the comments!

image by Erica Sherman

Colleen can’t stand broccoli. She often compares the taste of the green veggie to taking a bite out of someone’s lawn.

After years of experimentation, she finally came up with a way to get even the most fastidious broccoli basher to come around to the flower-headed cousin of the cabbage.

Cheese, delicious cheese.

The most coveted food in the world is the main component behind the Béchamel-like sauce in Colleen’s chicken divan. When combined with cheese, Béchamel gets transformed into something known as Mornay sauce.

While coming up with this recipe, Colleen took some short cuts from the more traditional version to make this recipe a little more user friendly.

While all this was going on, we were lucky enough to have Erica Sherman over to break bread with us, as well as snap some professional pics of the finished product.

Enjoy!

Colleen’s Chicken Divan

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breasts cubed
1 pound broccoli florets
1 small onion diced
1 clove minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Juice from 1 lemon
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Click Here To Bring In Veggies Under The Radar So Easily Jessica Seinfeld Will Be Taking Very, Ah, Thorough Notes