2019 REVIEW
to Maurizio Cattelan’s nowinfamous
piece “Comedian,”
which was literally a banana
duct taped to a wall that sold
for $120,000 at a Miami gallery
on Dec. 7. Fornino owner Michael
Ayoup duct-taped a margherita
pizza pie to his pizzeria’s
wall asking for a meager
$100,000 to make it yours.
Williamsburg beachfront:
Developers unveiled
plans on Dec. 12 for two massive
skyscrapers along with
new beaches and parkland
planned for the Williamsburg
waterfront. Two Trees Management
COURIER LIFE,30 DEC. 27, 2019-JAN. 2, 2020
want to erect the
650- and 600-foot towers at a
former industrial fuel-oil-storage
once owned by Con Edison
which the fi rm had purchased
the day prior. The development
will house a YMCA featuring
a pool on its fi rst fl oor.
Of it’s 1,000 residential units,
250 will be reserved for apartment
seekers making between
40-60 percent of the city’s area
median income.
Both ways: US Congress
passed long-awaited legislation
to reinstate split tolls
on the Verrazzano-Narrows
Bridge on Dec. 17. The move
will allow the MTA — the
agency governing charges
on the span — to charge drivers
head in both directions
along the span at half the
current rate. The bridge has
had a federally-mandated
one-way toll since the 1980s,
with the charge currently
at $19, with discounts for EZPass
users and residents of
the Rock. MTA chief Pat Foye
estimates this move will produce
between $10-15 million
in additional annual revenue
for the cash-strapped transit
agency.
Empire on Lincoln: Sisters
Ana Prince and Brenda
Castellanos opened their
third restaurant in Prospect
Lefferts Gardens in December
— on the same block as
their first two! Their third
venture, Antojitos del Patron,
will focus on traditional
Mexican dishes, as
opposed to their first restaurant
Taqueria el Patron,
which serves up California
style Mexican grub across
the street.
New Year’s Destitution:
Residents of a Bedford-Stuyvesant
homeless shelter were
forced to pack their bags and
move to other shelters in the
city’s system, after the shelter
was “fl ipped” to accommodate
homeless men with
mental health issues. Shelter
residents say it’s just another
chapter in the Department
of Homeless Services
web of cruel bureaucracy,
while neighbors and elected
offi cials claim the change was
dropped on their head with no
warning, giving them little
time to prepare for a new element
in the neighborhood and
say goodbye to the women of
the shelter.
Continued from Page 28
Keiko Niccolini (far left) with her daughter Rayas, and Angela McCall. Niccolini
is petitioning for the changes to be called off.
Photo by Caroline Ourso
Michael Ayoub and his masterpiece “Pizza” which hangs at his restaurant
Fornino in Greenpoint, which can be yours for only $100,000.
Photo by Caroline Ourso